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A   HISTORICAL   INQUIRY 

CONCERNING         '        ,  -      - 


HENRY 


HIS 


Friends,  Relatives,  and  Early  Life,  his  Connection  with  the  Muscovy  Company, 
and  Discovery  of  Delaware  Bay. 

BY  GEN.  JOHN"  MEREDITH  READ,  JR. 

8vo,  pp.  vi,  209,  Appendix  and  full  Index,  fine  paper,  title  and  initial  rubricated,  plate  in 
colors  of  Hudson  arms;  put  up  in  paper  covers,  sewed,  uncut. 


The  edition  of  this  remarkable  work  was  limited  to  200  for  sale  at  $5 ;  and  50  for  sale  at  $12.    The  latter  were 
immediately  taken,  and  only  a  very  few  copies  of  the  former  remain.    Librarians  and  collectors  should  not  neglect 
the  present  opportunity  to  purchase  as  the  book  will  not  be  reprinted  in  the  same  form.     The  following  are  some  of 
ndences  of  its  brilliant  success. 


the  many  evi 


J.  MUNSELL,  Publisher,  82  State  Street, 

Albany,  N.  IT.,  United  States. 


From  the  New  York  Evening  Post, 

FOREIGN    HONORS    TO    AN   AMERICAN 

AUTHOR, 

"  In  recognition  of  the  '  originality,  accuracy 
and  learning '  evinced  by  General  John  Mere- 
dith Read,  Jr.,  in  his  'Life  of  Henry  Hudson,' 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Denmark  has  nominated 
General  Read  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
Northern  Antiquaries,  of  which  the  King  of 
Denmark  is  the  president.  At  the  proposal  of 
the  Crown  Prince,  General  Read  has  been  placed 
upon  the  list  of  the  original  founders  of  that 
society.  The  Royal  Irish  Academy  has  elected 
him  a  member,  and  presented  him  a  complete 
set  of  its  publications.  The  Governor  and  Court 
of  Assistants  of  the  Muscovy,  or  Russian  Com- 
pany, the  corporation  which  was  founded  in 
London,  by  Sebastian  Cabot,  in  1555,  and  which 
originated  the  commerce  and  intercourse  between 
Great  Britain  and  Russia,  have  forwarded  an 
official  letter  thanking  General  Read  for  the 
new  and  interesting  light  cast  upon  their  early 
history.  The  Imperial  Institute  and  French  Aca- 
demy have  also  sent  him  a  complimentary  letter. 

"  The  book  which  has  elicited  such  flattering 
marks  of  favor  from  the  most  distinguished 
learned  bodies  of  Europe,  is  to  be  enlarged  by 
the  author  and  illustrated,  by  Mr.  Albert  Bier- 
stadt,  who  sails  for  Europe  in  the  early  part  of 
June  to  make  the  necessary  studies  in  England, 
France  and  Holland." 


the  reputation,  which  this  work  will  bring  him, 
will  secure  to  the  study  of  our  history  one  so 
willing  to  labor,  and  whose  style  is  always  per- 
spicuous and  graceful,  and  at  all  times  elo- 
quent." 

From  the  Albany  Evening  Journal. 

"  It  will  always  be  an  honor  to  the  author, 
that  laboring  in  a  field  where  so  many  had 
gleaned  before,  he  lias  come  out  with  a  full  sheaf 
of  discoveries." 


M.  Victor  Hugo's  Estimate. 

"  I  have  read  with  lively  interest  the  admirable 
treatise  concerning  Henry  Hudson.  I  have  had 
it  translated  for  me. 

"  These  brave  pioneers,  who  search  and  dis- 
cover, are  the  workmen  of  civilization  and  pro- 
gress. To  relate  their  history  is  to  prove  this  by 
example.  This  work,  from  all  these  points  of 
view,  is  both  praiseworthy  and  useful." 


From  Dr.  R,  Shelton  Mackenzie. 

"  We  admire  the  patience  as  well  as  the  ability 
with  which  Mr.  Read  has  conducted  his  in- 
quiries. Where  others  had  hopelessly  said,  '  all 
is  barren,'  he  has  reaped  a  golden  harvest  of  rich 
facts." 


From  the  Philadelphia  Inquirer. 

We  regard  this  as  a  remarkable  book." 


From  the  Washington  Chronicle. 

"  General  Read  has  been  doing  for  our  early 
history  what  Niebuhr  has  done  so  remorselessly 
for  the  founders  of  Rome.  *  *  *  It  is  a 
marvel  of  labor  in  gathering  up  curious  learning 
illustrative  of  the  subject  in  hand.  We  hope 


From  the  N,  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser. 

"  The  volume  traces,  with  evident  proofs  of 
Mr.  Read's  thoroughness  on  every  page,  the 
early  career  of  the  great  discoverer,  and  im- 
pressively illustrates  the  trials,  vicissitudes, 


dangers  ,««<!  lu:.,l,.h;,  s  ul-i.li  II, -i.ry  Hudson  ce  qui  tient  au  berceau  et  aux  engines  de  ce 
voluntarily  encountered'  in  pursuit' of  the  ends  of  nouveau  monde  qui  est  n6  du  premier  jour  a  la 
science  "  civilisation  la  plus  avance"e." 


From  Lippincott's  Magazine. 
THE  OPINION  OF  THE  FRENCH 

ACADEMY. 

"  In  a  recent  official  communication,  the  French 
Academy  speaks  as  follows  concerning  General 
John  Meredith  Read,  Jr.,  of  Albany  : 

"  '  The  Academy,  which  was  not  a  stranger  to 
the  literary  works  of  the  distinguished  author, 
has  welcomed  with  lively  interest  his  historical 
researches  concerning  '  Henry  Hudson  ; '  and  it 
has  recommended  to  the  attention  of  its  members 
the  study  of  the  precious  volume.'  " 


From  the  Danish  Court  Journal. 

"  The  monthly  meeting  of  the  Royal  Society 
of  Northern  Antiquaries  took  place  on  Tuesday, 
Urh  April. 

"  After  some  introductory  remarks  by  the  Vice 
President,  the  Privy  Councillor  Waarsae,  upon 
proposal  of  His  Royal  Highness  the  Crown 
Prince,  General  John  Meredith  Read,  Jr.,  of 
Albany,  was  elected  a  Fellow  and  Founder  of 
the  Society." 

From  the  N.  Y.  Tribune. 

"  An  extremely  valuable  and  interesting  con- 
tribution to  our  current  historical  literature." 

From  the  New  York  Times. 

"  A  desideratum  in  our  historical  knowledge 
has  been,  to  a  remarkable  extent,  supplied. 
The  patient  research  manifest  in  this  investi- 
gation, the  variety  of  new  circumstances  and 
suggestive  conjectures,  and  the  authenticity 
and  completeness  of  the  narrative,  are  all  indi- 
cative of  genuine  historical  enthusiasm,  acute- 
ness  and  insight.  General  Read  has  succeeded 
in  shedding  a  flood  of  light  upon  an  obscure 
and  perplexing  biographical  problem." 


From  the  Delaware  Gazette. 

"  The  whole  work  fills  a  most  important  place 
in  American  History." 


OPINION  OF  THE  CELEBRATED  FRENCH 
CRITIC.  M.  SA1XTE  BEUVE,  IMPERIAL 
SENATOR,  MEMBER  OF  THE  ACADEMY, 

ETC.,    KT<  . 

"Le  savant  volume  qui  interesse  si  fort  la  geo- 
gruphiii  et  1'histoire.  II  appartient  a  la  science 
et  a  Tin  vest  io-ut  ion  la  plus  precise  d'eclairer  tout 


From  the  North  American  Review. 

"  General  Read's  admirable  study  of  the  com- 
mercial history  of  England  for  the  last  half  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  furnishes  a  very  satis- 
factory picture  of  the  circumstances  of  society 
and  adventure  in  which  Henry  Hudson,  of 
Hudson's  Bay,  grew  up  to  his  great  career.  In 
the  midst  of  the  Shakespeares,  and  Jonsons,  and 
Sidneys,  scarcely  separated  from  them  by  the 
Raleighs,  and  Walsinghams,  and  Southampton*, 
here  were  the  Hudsons,  Chancellors,  Gilberts 
and  Frobishers,  worthy  companions  indeed  of 
the  courtier,  the  philosopher,  or  the  poet.  From 
the  midst  of  such  a  cluster,  the  very  year  that 
Newport  and  Smith  sailed  for  James  River, 
Henry  Hudson  sailed  for  Spitsbergen.  In  four 
years  more  he  had  again  and  again  traversed 
the  most  northern  seas.  He  had  looked  in  at  New- 
port News,  had  discovered  Delaware  Bay  and 
Hudson's  River,  and  that  great  inland  sea  which 
bears  his  name  and  is  his  monument. 

"  It  is  to  be  hoped  that,  with  the  new  authori- 
ties which  General  Read  hopes  to  find  in 
England,  he  may  work  up  the  whole  subject 
into  a  complete  biography  of  the  great  navigator. 
When  treated  with  the  critical  care  everywhere 
apparent  in  this  volume,  it  will  make  a  narrative 
of  great  interest." 


From  Putnam's  Magazine. 

"  In  his  Memoir  of  Henry  Hudson  the  author 
has  shown  his  ability  for  acute  and  diligent 
research." 


From  the  Delaware  Republican. 

"  This  publication  is  one  of  singular  import- 
ance and  interest.  The  diction  is  that  of  an 
accomplished  scholar,  chaste,  unaffected,  and 
yet  withal  elegant." 


From  the  London  Athenaeum. 

"  We  have  to  tha.nk  General  Read  for  a  very 
curious  and  interesting  book." 


From  the  Home  Journal. 

"  An  exquisitely  printed  volume  has  recently 
appeared,  which  is  likely  to  attract  for  some 
time  the  attention  of  all  who  are  interested  in 
the  early  history  of  our  country.  *  *  *  It 


3 


worthily  preserves  the  results  of  General  Read's 
indefatigable  and  scholarly  researches.  *  *  * 
To  General  Read  a  great  debt  is  due,  for  his 
perseverance  and  investigations.  We  should 
think  that  few  more  valuable  presents  than 
copies  of  this  work  could  be  sent  by  Americans 
to  their  transatlantic  friends." 


From  the  Round  Table. 

"  The  life  of  Hudson  has  scarcely  been  written 
until  now.  *  *  *  The  whole  monogram, 
besides  an  appendix  and  excellent  index,  is  inge- 
nious, well  written  and  suggestive." 


From  the  Philadelphia  Press. 

"One  of  the  most  remarkable  works  of  the 
historic-biographic  class  which  has  appeared  for 
many  years  in  America  or  England,  is  the  Life 
of  Henry  Hudson,  by  General  John  Meredith 
Read,  Jr." 


From  the  Atlantic  Monthly. 

*  *  "  We  have  a  profusion  of  his- 
tories of  all  kinds,  good,  bad,  and  indifferent,  and 
'  historical  collections'  without  number  —  many 
of  them  hasty,  crude,  and  superficial,  and  some, 
too,  evincing  the  most  thorough  accuracy. 

"  The  work  which  furnishes  the  text  of  these 
remarks  is  a  most  scholarlike  and  admirable  ex- 
ample of  a  species  of  investigation  which  lies 
at  the  base  of  all  accurate  and  trustworthy  his- 
tory. Its  subject  is  a  discoverer  who  holds  a 
conspicuous  place  in  the  early  annals  of  this  con- 
tinent, but  whose  life  has  nevertheless  been 
wrapped  in  an  almost  impenetrable  obscurity. 
We  hold  it  to  be  a  duty,  when  so  much  that  is 
trivial,  crude,  and  superficial  is  daily  thrust 
before  the  public  —  often,  too,  in  an  imposing 
garb  of  elegant  typography  —  to  call  attention 
to  a  volume  embodying  the  results  of  a  genuine 
research  concentrated  on  an  object  truly  historic, 
and  producing  results  of  a  real  interest  and 
value." 


From  the  Philadelphia  City  Item . 

"  A  new  star  has  arisen  in  our  literary  firma- 
ment, a  star  of  peculiar  brilliancy  and  power,  in  the 
person  of  Gen.  John  Meredith  Read,  Jr.,  whose 
Historical  Inquiry  concerning  Henry  Hudson 
is  now  before  us.  We  have  read  this  book  with 
care,  and  have  pleasure  in  saying  that  it  is  an 
invaluable  offering  to  the  historical  student. 
Gen.  Read  has  given  patient  and  laborious  re- 
search to  this  Inquiry,  and  has  treated  the  sub- 


ject with  the  dignity  and  emphasis  becoming  a 
scholar.  His  style  is  broad  and  strong,  yet  grace- 
ful and  picturesque,  and  the  work  possesses  all 
the  charm  of  a  most  elaborate  and  artistic  work 
of  fiction." 


From  Bell's  (London)  Weekly  Messenger. 

GEN.   READ'S  HISTORY  OF  HENRY 
HUDSON. 

" '  A  HISTORICAL  INQUIRY  CONCERNING  HENRY 
HUDSON  ;  his  Friends,  Relatives,  and  Early  Life  ; 
his  Connection  with  the  Muscovy  Company,  and 
Discovery  of  Delaware  Bay.  By  John  Meredith 
Read,  Jr.,  Albany  (U.  S.),  Joel  Munsell.' " 

"  Among  the  new  works  lately  placed  before  us 
this  is  one  that  claims  an  especial  notice  on  ac- 
count of  its  singularly  attractive  subject,  clouded 
as  it  partially  is  in  mystery,  as  well  as  from  the 
clever  manner  in  which  that  subject  has  been 
treated  by  a  writer  hitherto  unknown  to  us,  but 
who  we  feel  sure  is  not  destined  to  linger  in  ob- 
scurity. His  restless  spirit  of  research  shows 
itself  in  every  page  ;  and  while  he  places  before 
the  reader  the  results  of  his  investigation,  he 
suggests  the  deduction  to  be  made  therefrom 
rather  than  insists  dogmatically  upon  it.  His 
style  is  eminently  ingenious  and  suggestive. 
But  in  what  way  can  an  inquiry  concerning 
Henry  Hudson  be  a  matter  of  interest  to  any 
one  ?  The  city  of  New  York  in  America  was,  a 
few  years  since,  comparatively  little  known  to 
us ;  few  of  us  had  visited  it ;  it  was  a  mart  of 
commerce  possessing  no  attractions  beyond  what 
the  sale  of  merchandise  gave  it  to  our  merchants 
and  manufacturers.  But  of  late  years  it  has  be- 
come more  known  because  more  frequented  ;  and 
although  it  has  not  perhaps  yet  arrived  at  the 
dignity  of  a  great  capital,  it  has,  from  its  position, 
its  wealth,  and  its  intelligence,  become  one  of  the 
important  cities  of  the  world.  Who  that  has 
visited  it  ever  will  forget  the  magnificent  river 
on  whose  banks  the  city  is  built,  and  which  forms 
a  harbor  that  is  not  easily  matched  for  beauty  ? 

"  The  interest  we  take  in  this  inquiry  is  created 
by  the  fact  that  to  this  river  one  of  the  boldest 
of  English  navigators  gave  the  name,  which  it 
bears  to  this  day.  It  was  a  long  time  before  the 
delusions  created  by  the  veracious  Deidrich 
Knickerbocker's  'tragically  mirthful'  'History 
of  the  Founding  of  New  York'  could  be  re- 
moved from  our  mind,  and  we  were  induced  to 
believe  that  the  river  was  not  discovered  by  a 
ponderous  Heinrich  Hudson,  Dutch  by  nation 
and  Dutch  in  build.  Still  less  did  we  realize 
that  the  enterprising  Englishman,  from  whom 
the  great  inland  lake  known  as  Hudson's  Bay 


received  its  appellation,  was  the  same  Hudson 
who,  in  1609,  discovered  the  vast  arm  of  the  sea 
subsequently  named  after  the  Lord  de  la  Warr, 
and  on  the  evening  of  the  3d  September,  of  the 
same  year,  anchored  his  vessel  in  the  waters  of 
the  great  river  since  named  after  him.  Before 
Mr.  Read's  work  appeared,  all  that  was  known 
of  this  navigator  was  derived  from  Purchas's 
compilation  of  a  few  of  the  journals  kept  by 
Hudson,  from  a  publication  by  Mr.  H.  C.  Murphy 
in  1859,  entitled  Jladnvu  in  Holland,  in  which 
we  read  that  '  the  journals  of  his  voyages  kept 
by  "himself  and  others,  published  by  Purchas, 
furnished  all  that  is  known  of  him,  except  some 
few  additional  facts  which  we  have  now  collected 
from  other  sources ; '  and  from  Dr.  Asher's  vo- 
1  ume,  published  in  1860,  by  the  Hakluyt  Society, 
which  states  that  'His  doings  before  1607, 
family  connections  and  his  social  position,  are 
equally  unknown  to  us.'  At  this  stage  General 
Read  has  taken  up  the  inquiry,  and  after  a  most 
minute  and  searching  investigation  has  demon- 
strated that  Henry  Hudson  was  of  the  family  of 
the  Hudsons  who  were  among  the  founders  and 
managers  of  the  Moscovy  and  Russia  Company  ; 
that  he  was  a  grandson  of  Alderman  Henry 
Hudson,  who  owned  landed  property  in  Kent, 
whose  widow  married  Sir  Richard  Champion, 
Lord  Mayor  in  1566 ;  that  he  was  a  citizen  of 
London,  where  he  owned  a  house  ;  that  he  re- 
ceived his  training  as  well  as  his  subsequent 
employment  from  the  Moscovy  Company ;  and 
that  he  was  in  their  service  at  the  time  the  melan- 
cliolv  and  mysterious  ending  of  his  career  is 
supposed  to  have  taken  place.  We  speak  our 
conviction  when  we  say  that  few  works  of  this 
nature  show  more  intelligence  of  research,  more 
clearness  of  diction,  and  a  more  satisfactory 
solution  of  an  obscure  subject  than  the  inquiry 
concerning  Henry  Hudson  by  General  Read." 


From  the  Albany  Evening  Journal. 
GENERAL  READ'S  HISTORY. 

"The  lli.itory  <>f  Henry  Hudson,  recently  pub- 
lished by  our  townsman,  John  Meredith  Read, 
Jr.,  is  winning  compliments  and  honors  from  the 
most  thorough  and  able  critics  of  this  and  for- 
eign countries.  The  Royal  Society  of  Northern 
Antiquaries  has  recently  forwarded  to  the  author 
a  valuable  present  of  rare  books ;  and  the  Vice 
President  Councillor  of  State  Worsaae,  one  of  the 
most  learned  men  in  the  North  of  Europe,  says 
of  it :  '  I  beg  leave  to  express  the  gratification 
we  have  felt  in  adding  General  Read's  name 


to  the  list  of  our  distinguished  foreign  mem- 
bers. Through  the  kindness  of  his  Royal 
Highness  the  Crown  Prince,  I  had  the  oppor- 
tunity of  reading  his  most  interesting  work  on 
Hudson,  which  has  given  me  very  great 
pleasure.'  The  Chairman  and  Directors  of 
the  Honorable  (English)  East  India  Company 
have  also  forwarded  their  official  thanks  to 
the  author.  The  London  Athenceum  has  spoken 
of  this  work  in  most  appreciative  terms,  as  have 
M.  Sainte  Beuve,  the  celebrated  French  critic, 
and  Victor  Hugo.  The  latter  has  had  it  trans- 
lated into  French.  The  author  has  also  been 
elected  a  corresponding  member  of  the  New 
England  Historic-Genealogical  Society,  of  the 
Historic  Societies  of  Massachusetts  and  Wiscon- 
sin, and  of  the  American  Ethnological  Society, 
in  recognition  of  his  '  labors  in  illustrating  the 
history  of  our  common  country.'  The  distin- 
guished author  of  the  Cromicellian  Settlement  of 
Ireland  says :  '  I  have  read  the  elegant  and 
instructive  Life  of  Henry  Hudson  with  great 
interest.  The  research  which  the  author  has 
exhibited,  carried  on  at  such  a  distance,  is  mar- 
velous.' These  compliments  are  in  addition  to 
many  others  of  like  character  previously  noticed 
by  us. 

"We  learn  that  General  Read  has  decided 
upon  preparing  a  new  edition  of  his  now  famous 
work.  With  this  view  it  will  be  entirely  re- 
written, in  popular  style  and  a  vast  amount  of 
additional  facts  introduced,  calculated  to  throw 
light  upon  the  incidental  features  of  the  history. 
Researches  are  being  made  or  will  be  commenced 
in  the  archives  of  England,  France,  Russia,  Den- 
mark, and  if  possible  Spain.  Our  State  Depart- 
ment will  probably  request  the  representatives 
of  this  country  abroad  to  procure  every  attainable 
facility  for  the  object  in  view. 

"  The  forthcoming  edition  will  exhibit  a  fea- 
ture of  peculiar  interest  and  value.  Bierstadt, 
the  justly  celebrated  artist,  is  now  in  Europe, 
making  studies  for  illustrations  of  the  text. 
These  are  twenty-four  in  number,  and  will  be 
executed  with  the  most  scrupulous  fidelity,  and 
of  course  with  unapproachable  skill.  The 
sketches  for  several  of  these  illustrations  are 
already  completed.  When  the  plan  now  in  view 
is  carried  out,  the  work  will  stand  above  com- 
parison with  any  other  recently  published  in 
America,  alike  for  its  literary  excellence,  and  for 
its  perfect  artistic  finish.  The  high  reputation 
derived  from  it  will  well  repay  General  Read  for 
the  years  of  patient  toil  with  which  it  has  been 
elaborated." 


Arms   or 

HENRY    HUDSON 

Fo-Linder&  l!r  Assistant  of  tiue 

M  O  S  C  O  VY  -CO  MP A1TY , 

OBIIT  1555. 


HISTORICAL   INQUIRY 


CONCERNING 


FRIENDS,  RELATIVES  AND  EARLY  LIFE, 


CONNECTION  WITH  THE  MUSCOYY  COMPANY 


DISCOVERY  OF  DELAWARE  BAY. 


MEREDITH  READ  JR. 


ALBANY : 
JOEL     MUKSELL. 

MDCCCLXVI. 


El 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1866, 

BY  JOHN  MEREDITH  READ  JR. 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States, 
for  the  Northern  District  of  New  York. 


V     -  V  •  •  • 


TO 


MY   FATHER 


THE  FOLLOWING  PAGES  ARE 


Jtescribsb. 


M45255 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


WILMINGTON,  13th  October,  1864. 
GEN.  JOHN  M.  READ  JR.,  Albany. 

Dear  Sir  :  At  a  meeting  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Delaware,  held 
this  evening,  the  following  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted : 

"  Resolved :  That  the  thanks  of  this  Society  are  eminently  due  and 
are  hereby  presented  to  Gen.  John  Meredith  Read  Jr.,  for  the  eloquent 
and  highly  interesting  oration  delivered  before  the  Society  this 
evening." 

"  Resolved :  That  Gen.  Read  be  requested  to  furnish  a  copy  of  his 
Address,  to  be  preserved  in  our  archives,  and  that  the  same  be  pub- 
lished by  the  Society." 

The  undersigned,  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Society  to  transmit 
the  resolutions  to  you,  beg  leave  to  express  the  hope  that  you  will 
comply  with  the  request  therein  contained,  so  that  your  valuable  dis- 
course may  be  rendered  the  more  generally  accessible  to  our  fellow 
citizens. 

We  remain. 

Very  truly  yours, 

WILLAKD  HALL, 
ALFRED  LEE, 
CHARLES  BRECK, 
LEIGHTON  COLEMAN, 
L.  P.  BUSH, 
D.  M.  BATES. 


VI 


230  STATE  STREET,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  ) 
January,  12th,  1865.         i" 

Gentlemen  : 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  accede  to  your  request  by  placing  my  manu- 
script at  your  disposal.  As  you  will  readily  perceive,  it  contains  an 
amplification  of  details,  out  of  place  in  an  oral  performance,  but 
essential  in  a  written  discourse,  wherein  new  facts  and  views  are  ad- 
vanced. Accustomed  to  regard  the  developments  of  individual  as  well 
as  of  national  history,  as  so  many  exhibitions  of  the  Providence  of 
God,  I  have  endeavored  faithfully  to  investigate  the  early  life  and 
training  of  one,  who  was  the  instrument  in  His  hands,  to  practically 
reveal  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Old  World  a  great  extent  of  territory, 
which  has  finally  become  the  home  of  a  free  and  enlightened  people. 
With  sentiments  of  the  highest  respect, 
I  am,  gentlemen,  very  sincerely  yours, 

J.  M.  READ  JR. 
To 

The  HON.  WILLARD  HALL,  President  of  the  Society, 

The  RIGHT  REV.  DR.  ALFRED  LEE, 

The  REVEREND  CHARLES  BRECK, 

The  REVEREND  LEIGHTON  COLEMAN, 

L.  P.  BUSH,  Esquire,  M.D.,  and 

D.  M.  BATES,  Esquire. 


HENRY    HUDSON. 


A   DISCOURSE 

DELIVERED  AT  WILMINGTON,  BEFORE  THE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 
OF  DELAWARE,  ON  ITS  FIRST  ANNIVERSARY. 


DISCOURSE. 


S  I  stand  here  to-night,  upon  the  soil 
of  Delaware,  sacred  to  me  as  the 
cradle  and  the  grave  of  many  of  my 
family,  my  heart  is  filled  with  grate- 
ful emotions  awakened  by  the  thought, 
that  a  Historical  Society,  composed  of  the 
most  distinguished  citizens,  has  at  last  been  in- 
augurated within  these  borders,  and  is  about  to 
engage  in  the  agreeable  duty  of  gathering  up  and 
preserving  for  all  time,  the  invaluable  but  hitherto 
sadly  neglected  records  of  the  State  and  Province. 
From  the  precious  materials  thus  collected,  I 
hope  to  see  arise,  at  no  distant  day,  a  clear,  lumi- 
nous and  connected  narrative,  embodying  the  story 
of  our  ancestors'  heroic  lives. 

The  discovery  and  early  settlement  of  America 
have  al  ways  *•  been  to  me  subjects  replete  with  in- 
tensest  interest,  and  the  attempted  solution  of 


6 


some  of  the  questions  connected  therewith,  has  fur- 
nished me  with  many  delightful  hours  of  reflection. 
On  this,  the  first  anniversary  of  an  association 
henceforth  pledged  to  link  the  glorious  memories 
of  the  past  with  the  great  living  realities  of  the 
present,  I  propose  to  examine  critically  the  life 
and  antecedents  of  Henry  Hudson, —  with  special 
reference  to  his  discovery  of  Delaware  Bay, — 
hoping  thus  to  develop  the  prominent  traits  of  his 
character,  and  to  reveal  with  clearness  and  pre- 
cision the  origin  of  his  visit  to  these  shores.  If 
the  views  which  I  am  about  to  present,  shall 
appear  to  clash  with  the  generally  received  opi- 
nions respecting  this  remarkable  man,  and  the 
causes  that  led  him  to  undertake  the  voyage  which 
had  such  important  results,  I  can  only  say  that  my 
convictions  are  the  fruits  of  patient  study,  and 
that  I  am  confident  further  investigations  will 
substantially  confirm  the  conclusions  I  have  thus 
deliberately  reached.  At  the  same  time,  I  wish 
it  distinctly  understood  that  my  sole  desire  is  to 
obtain  an  entirely  truthful  idea  of  the  important, 
yet  obscure  points  involved  in  the  suggested 
enquiry.  I  am  therefore  quite  as  anxious  to  elicit 
information,  as  to  impart  knowledge  concerning 
the  subject  which  I  have  chosen  to  illustrate. 


People  have  been  so  long  accustomed  to  regard 
Henry  Hudson  as  the  peculiar  property  of  New 
York,  that  scarcely  any  one  dreams  of  associating 
his  name  with  the  history  of  Delaware,  and  very 
few  are  aware  that  in  point  of  time  the  latter 
state  has  a  prior  claim  to  him  as  her  discoverer. 
Yet  such  is  the  fact.  To  him  belongs  the  first 
position  on  your  roll  of  honored  names,  for  he  first 
revealed  to  the  world  this  bay  and  river,  and 
made  known  the  beautiful  region  in  which  you 
live.  On  the  28th  of  August,  1609,  he  entered 
and  explored  the  waters  to  which  your  Common- 
wealth owes  its  name,  whereas  the  Half  Moon 
did  not  anchor  within  Sandy  Hook  until  the 
evening  of  the  3d  of  September.  New  York  is 
accordingly  Delaware's  younger  sister. 

Although  the  fame  of  Henry  Hudson  is  coexten- 
sive with  the  civilized  world,  few  men  of  equal 
distinction  have  existed,  of  whose  personal  history 
so  little  has  been  ascertained. 

Detailed  accounts  of  four  extraordinary  voyages 
accomplished  by  him,  have  been  preserved  in  the 
curious  pages  of  Purchas;  but  the  most  diligent 
efforts  of  the  learned  have  thus  far  failed  to  elicit 
from  any  quarter,  a  single  authentic  incident  con- 
nected with  his  early  life. 


8 

Nearly  a  century  ago  George  Steevens  said  of 
one  of  Hudson's  great  contemporaries :  "  All  that  is 
known  with  any  degree  of  certainty  concerning 
Shakespeare  is,  that  he  was  born  at  Stratford- 
upon-Avon ;  married  and  had  children  there ; 
went  to  London,  where  he  commenced  actor,  and 
wrote  poems  and  plays;  returned  to  Stratford, 
made  his  will,  died,  and  was  buried." 

Here,  however,  are  the  outlines  of  an  ample 
biography,  within  which,  by  the  aid  of  parish 
registers,  town  deeds  and  records,  diaries,  and  the 
gossip  of  contemporaries,  a  narrative  may  be  con- 
structed illustrating  the  career  of  the  poet,  from 
his  cradle  to  his  grave. 

No  such  materials  have  up  to  the  present  time 
been  revealed,  upon  which  reliance  can  be  placed 
for  aid  in  sketching  the  life  of  Hudson.  That  he 
was  an  Englishman  may  indeed  be  readily  and 
satisfactorily  proved,  but  as  to  where  or  when  he 
was  born,  we  have  no  evidence  whatever. 

His  birth,  his  parentage,  his  home,  his  boyhood, 
/  the  early  days  of  his  manhood,  and  the  influences 
under  which  the  character  and  genius  of  the  great 
discoverer  were  first  developed,  would  be,  to  all, 
matters  of  deepest  interest.  Unfortunately,  we 
are  met  at  the  very  threshold  of  our  investigations, 


by  the  fact  that  absolutely  nothing  is  known  of 
Hudson,  prior  to  the  19th  of  April,  1607,  when  he 
suddenly  appears  upon  the  stage  of  action  as  a 
captain  in  the  employ  of  the  Muscovy  Company, 
and  after  the  brief  period  of  five  years  of  brilliant 
explorations  in  the  service  of  the  English  and  the 
Dutch,  prematurely  perishes  by  treachery  amid 
the  scenes  of  his  triumphs. 

The  story  of  his  wonderful  discoveries,  his  hair- 
breadth escapes,  his  romantic  voyages  in  wintry 
seas,  are  as  familiar  to  us  as  household  words,  and 
we  are  prepared  to  recognize  in  Hudson,  the  man 
who,  two  centuries  and  a  half  ago,  braving  untold 
dangers,  reached  a  degree  of  northern  latitude  sur- 
passed by  few  modern  explorers,  and  there,  noting 
the  singular  amelioration  of  the  climate,  originated 
the  great  idea  of  an  open  polar  sea,1  a  theory  which 
later  investigators  have  adopted  and  fully  confirmed. 

In  England  we  find  that  his  memory  is  perpetu- 
ated in  the  title  of  a  gigantic  trading  corporation, 
and  in  America,  by  common  consent,  his  name  is 
affixed  to  most  of  the  great  discoveries  which  he 
inaugurated  and  effected. 


1  American  scholars  are  indebted  to  the  Hon.  Henry  C.  Mur- 
phy for  establishing  Hudson's  claim  to  be  considered  as  the 
originator  of  this  theory. 


10 

From  the  capes  of  the  Delaware  to  the  ice-bound 
shores  of  the  Pole,  our  continent  has  associations 
connected  with  Hudson. 

The  same  tides  which  glistened  in  the  sun  when 
he  first  beheld  them,  still  rise  and  fall  in  your 
bay ;  the  waters  of  a  noble  river  in  the  state  of 
New  York,  as  they  roll  to  the  ocean,  kiss  the  green 
banks  where  his  footsteps  lingered  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  since,  while  the  stormy  waves  of  a 
great  inland  sea,  far  away  in  the  north,  chant  an 
eternal  requiem  over  the  remains  of  the  ill-fated 
discoverer  who,  centuries  since,  found  his  grave  in 
their  gloomy  depths. 

Yet  the  previous  life  of  this  interesting  and  re- 
,  markable  man,  who  filled  the  world  with  his  name, 
still  remains  an  entire  blank,  and  is  to  all  as  a 
sealed  book.  Surely  this  is  a  fact  well  calculated 
to  excite  astonishment  and  provoke  enquiry,  and 
I  must  confess  that  I  have  entered  upon  this  por- 
tion of  my  subject  with  a  degree  of  interest  and  zeal 
which  has  carried  me,  far  beyond  my  first  inten- 
tions, into  a  thorough  and  extended  examination 
of  all  the  sources  at  my  command,  with  the  hope 
of  eventually  throwing  light  upon  a  matter  so 
entirely  obscure.  I  am  consoled  for  many  hours 
of  patient,  and  apparently  fruitless  research,  by  the 


11 

reflection  that  I  have  become  intimately  acquainted 
with  many  of  the  original  materials  from  which  the 
historians  of  Europe  and  America  have  drawn  their 
facts,  and  have  thus  been  enabled,  in  quite  a  num- 
ber of  instances,  to  modify  and  correct  opinions  of 
men  and  affairs,  which  I  had  derived  from  writers 
who  were  sometimes  swayed  by  party  prejudice  or 
personal  dislike. 

But  were  these  the  entire  results  of  my  labors, 
I  should  feel  that  however  valuable  or  interesting 
they  might  have  proved  to  myself,  as  far  as  the 
subject  in  hand  was  concerned,  my  investigations 
had  indeed  been  comparatively  useless.  It  gives 
me,  therefore,  great  pleasure  to  believe  myself  cor- 
rect in  the  assertion  that  I  have  discovered  a  series 
of  curious  facts  and  striking  coincidences,  which, 
have  escaped  the  attention  of  scholars  for  the  last 
two  hundred  years,  and  which,  taken  in  connection 
with  authorities  soon  to  be  indicated,  may  enable 
a  person  having  access  to  the  treasures  of  the  British 
Museum,  and  the  ancient  records  of  the  Russia 
Company,  to  ascertain  the  antecedents  and  early 
history  of  Henry  Hudson. 

Before  proceeding  to  sketch  that  portion  of  his 
history  which  is  known,  including  his  discovery  of 
Delaware  Bay,  I  shall  endeavor  to  place  before 


12 


you  as  clearly  as  possible,  the  fruits  of  my  re- 
searches. 

After  examining  all  the  biographies  and  notices 
of  this  great  navigator  within  my  reach,  which 
alone  embraced  a  wide  range  of  reading.  I  found 
that,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  they  referred  to 
Parchas,  His  Pilgrimes  and  Pilgrimage,  as  the  foun- 
tain head  of  knowledge  on  the  subject,  or  were 
based  upon  statements  made  by  that  author. 
Having  accordingly  procured  one  of  the  original 
editions  of  Purchas,  published  in  1625,  fourteen 
years  after  Hudson's  death,  I  studied  it  carefully, 
page  by  page,  in  connection  with  the  two  latest  and 
ablest  contributions  to  his  life :  Henry  Hudson  in 
Holland,  by  the  Hon.  Henry  C.  Murphy,  late 
minister  of  the  United  States  at  The  Hague,  and 
Henry  Hudson  the  Navigator,  by  Dr.  Asher,  member 
of  the  Hakluyt  Society  of  London. 

The  first  mention  of  Hudson  by  Purchas  occurs 
in  connection  with  the  Muscovy  Company.  Edge, 
in  his  Brief  Discoverie  of  the  Muscovia  Merchants, 
says:  "In  the  year  1608,1  the  said  fellowship 
[the  Muscovy  or  Russia  Company]  set  forth  a  ship 
called  the  Hopewell,  whereof  Henry  Hudson  was 


1  The  real  date  of  this  voyage  to  Spitzbergen  is  1607.     That 
of  1608  was  directed  to  Nova  Zembla. 


13 

master,  to  discover  the  pole." l  Captain  Fotherby, 
who  was  also  in  the  employ  of  the  Muscovy  Com- 
pany, speaks  of  having  "perused  Hudson's  jour- 
nal."' But  the  earliest  reference  to  a  personal 
incident  in  the  life  of  the  great  mariner  is  to  be 
found  in  the  journal  of  the  first  voyage,  "  of 
that  worthy  irrecoverable  discoverer  Master  Henry 
Hudson/'  as  given  by  Purchas.3  "  Anno,  1607, 
Aprill  the  nineteenth,  at  St.  Ethelburge,  in  Bishops 
•Gate  street,  did  communicate  with  the  rest  of  the 
parishioners  these  persons,  seamen,  purposing  to  goe 
to  sea  foure  dayes  after,  for  to  discover  a  passage 
by  the  North  Pole  to  Japan  and  China.  First, 
Henry  Hudson,  master.  Secondly,  William  Col- 
ines,  his  mate.  Thirdly,  James  Young.  Fourthly, 
John  Colman.  Fiftly,  John  Cooke.  Sixtly,  James 
Beuberry.  Seventhly,  James  Skrutton.  Eightly. 
John  Pleyce.  Ninthly,  Thomas  Baxter.  Tenth- 
ly,  Richard  Day.  Eleventhly,  James  Knight. 
Twelfthly,  John  Hudson,  a  boy."  A  singularly 
small  crew,  when  we  consider  the  extent  and  hazard- 
ous character  of  the  explorations,  which  were  prin- 
cipally along  the  coast  of  Spitzbergen ;  were  under- 
taken for  the  Muscovy  Company,  and  had  for  their 


Purchas,  III,  464.     276.5  III,  730.     3  /^  ni,  567. 
3 


14 

object  the  discovery  of  a  north-eastern  passage  to 
China. 

The  journal  of  the  second  voyage,  made  for  a 
like  purpose,  in  1608,  also  at  the  expense  of  the 
Muscovy  Company,  and  which  resulted  in  making 
known  a  portion  of  Nova  Zembla,  next  demands 
our  attention. 

In  quick  succession  follow  the  records  of  Hud- 
son's third  voyage  in  1609,  when,  in  the  service  of 
the  Dutch  East  India  Company,  he  discovered  New 
Netherland,  and  the  account  of  his  fourth  and 
last  voyage  in  1610-11,  in  search  of  a  north-west 
passage  to  China.  It  was  in  this  expedition,  the 
cost  of  which  was  defrayed  by  several  English 
gentlemen,  of  whom  Sir  Dudley  Digges  was  one, 
that  Hudson  met  his  tragic  end. 

Having  thus  ascertained,  with  sufficient  accuracy 
for  present  purposes,  the  extent  of  the  informa- 
tion contained  in  Purchas,  we  are  prepared  to 
appreciate  the  peculiarly  abrupt  manner  in  which 
Hudson  is  introduced  to  our  notice.  Without  a 
single  prefatory  remark  about  his  previous  career, 
he  is  first  suddenly  mentioned  as  a  Captain  in  the 
employ  of  the  Muscovy  Company,  just  starting 
upon  along  and  perilous  voyage,  which  must  require 
from  the  commander  of  the  expedition  great  cour- 


15 

age,  entire  coolness,  thorough  seamanship,  wide 
knowledge  and  enlarged  experience. 

He  is  thus  presented  to  our  view  as  a  character 
with  whose  antecedents  we  must,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  be  perfectly  conversant.  He  is  so  well 
known  to  worthy  Purchas  his  name  and  fame  are 
so  fresh  in  the  minds  of  all,  when  that  author 
records  his  deeds,  that,  forgetful  of  posterity,  he 
fails  to  say  anything  of  the  earlier  history  of  his 
hero ;  and  we  are  left  at  this  late  day,  to  beat  our 
brains  with  vain  conjectures  about  the  early 
experiences  of  an  extraordinary  man,  whose  origin 
Purchas  might  have  indicated  with  a  stroke  of  his 
pen. 

The  omission  of  all  allusion  to  the  prior  life  of 
Hudson  does  not  so  entirely  astonish  me,  when  I 
remember  the  circumstances  under  which  Purchas 
compiled  his  work.  He  states  in  his  Pilgrimage, 
that  he  received  the  accounts  of  Hudson's  first 
three  voyages  from  Hakluyt.  Now,  I  find  in  the 
valuable  introduction  to  Sir  Henry  Middleton's 
East  India  Voyage 1  by  Bolton  Corney,  M.  K.  S.  L., 
the  following  interesting  paragraph  intended  to 
account  for  the  mutilation  of  the  records  of  the 
early  East  India  voyages,  but  which  will  serve 

i  Haklayt  Soc.  Pub.,  1855. 


16 

equally  well  to  explain  the  singular  omissions 
apparent  in  Purchas's  narrative  of  Hudson's 
career :  "  Hakluyt  undertook  the  custody  of  the 
manuscript  journals  of  the  voyages  and  travels  to 
which  it  was  held  unadvisable  to  give  immediate 
publicity;  comprising  voyages  to  Virginia  and  to 
the  north-western  seas,  and  all  the  East  India  voy- 
ages from  1601  almost  to  the  date  of  his  decease  in 
1616." 

"About  the  year  1620,  under  circumstances 
which  are  nowhere  distinctly  stated,  the  collec- 
tions formed  by  Hakluyt  came  into  the  hands  of 
the  reverend  Samuel  Purchas,1  whose  Pilgrimages 
or  Relations  of  the  World,  an  unfinished  work  which 

was  first  published  in  1613,  had  then  reached  its 

• 

third  edition.  Now  Purchas,  instead  of  framing  a 
continuation  of  the  Principal  Navigations,  as  edited 
by  Hakluyt,  aspired  to  supersede  those  volumes 
by  a  new  compilation,  which  should  include  the 
Hakluyt  papers  and  his  own  collections.  In  con- 


1 "  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this  compiler  [Purchas]  should 
have  adopted  the  plan  of  curtailing  all  his  narratives;  we  get 
more  facts,  within  a  given  compass,  it  is  true,  but  this  advan- 
tage is  more  than  compensated  by  the  loss  of  the  interest,  and 
indeed  confidence,  which  a  genuine  unabridged  narrative 
always  inspires."  Winter  Jones's  Introduction  to  Hakluyt's 
Voyages  to  America^  p.  xxxiv. 


17 

sequence  of  this  inj  udicious  resolution  he  was  com- 
pelled, as  he  admits,  to  contract  and  epitomize  his 
vast  materials.  After  much  laborious  application,, 
made  irksome  by  .bodily  infirmity,  he  published 
the  results  in  1625,  in  four  folio  volumes,  with  the 
quaint  title  of  Halduytus  Postlmmus,  or  Purchas 
his  Pilgrimes" l 

It  was  in  those  large  and  costly  volumes,  and 
under  such  unfavorable  circumstances,  that  the 
voyages  of  Hudson  made  their  appearance.  It  is 
not  difficult  to  account  for  the  meagre  and  unsat- 
isfactory manner  in  which  Purchas  presents  the 
relations  of  Hudson's  achievements,  when  we 
know  that  he  compressed  the  journal  of  Sir  Henry 
Middle  ton's  voyage  "into  less  than  one-twentieth 
part  of  its  real  extent." 2 

But  since  our  object  at  present  is  not  to  ac- 
count for  the  shortcomings  of  Purchas,  but  rather 
to  supply  the  deficiencies  in  that  portion  of  his 
work  which  relates  to  Hudson,  we  naturally  turn 
to  the  published  volumes  of  Hakluyt,  from  whose 
exhaustless  manuscript  stores  the  Pilgrimage  and 
Pilgrimes  were  compiled.  And  here  we  are  once 
more  at  fault ;  for  the  venerable  Hakluyt  com- 

1  Bolton  Corney's  Introduction  to  Sir  Henry  Middleton's  East 
India  Voyage,  Halt.  Soc.  Pub.,  1855,  pp.  in,  iv. 

2  Rak.  Soc.  Pub.,  1855,  p.  v. 


18 


pleted  "  his  far-famed  volumes,  entitled  Tlie  Princi- 
pal Navigations.,  Voiages,  Traffiques  and  Discoveries 
of  tlie  English  Nation"  in  the  last  year  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  A.  D.  1599,  and  "  no  augmented 
edition  of  the  work  was  ever  produced,  nor  any 
continuation  of  it  on  the  same  judicious  plan."  x 
There  is,  therefore,  the  hiatus  of  eight  years,  from 
1599  to  1607,  between  the  publishing  of  Hakluyt's 
work,  and  the  appearance  of  Hudson  in  Purchas's 
volumes.  On  turning  to  the  1599  edition  of  Hak- 
luyt,  I  find  no  mention  of  our  Henry  Hudson. 
But  I  gain  much  interesting  information  in  rela- 
tion to  the  Muscovy  or  Russia  Company,  and  here 
discover  the  remarkable  chain  of  coincidences  to 
which  I  referred  in  a  preceding  part  of  this 
address. 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  Henry  Hudson 
is  first  introduced  to  our  notice  by  Purchas,  as 
a  "  Captain  "  in  the  service  of  the  Muscovy  Com- 
pany on  the  19th  of  April,  1607.  I  now  discover, 
from  the  pages  of  Hakluyt,  that  another  Henry 
Hudson,  fifty-two  years  earlier,  i.  e.,  the  6th  of 
February,  1555,  was  named  in  Queen  Mary's  Char- 
ter as  one  of  the  founders  and  first  assistants  of 
the  Muscovy  or  Russia  Company.  Thus,  with 

1Corney's  Introduction. 


19 

half  a  century  between  them,  we  have  Henry 
Hudson,  one  of  the  founders  of  this  great  corpora- 
tion, and  Henry  Hudson  a  valued  and  experienced 
captain  in  its  service.  I  also  find  a  Christopher 
Hudson  repeatedly  spoken  of  as  one  of  the  factors 
of  the  Muscovy  Company,  and  finally  as  their 
agent  in  Russia  in  1560.  Moreover,  I  notice  in  the 
first  volume  of  Hakluyt,  the  name  of  Thomas  Hud- 
son, of  Limehouse,  England,  captain  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Muscovy  Company  in  1 580-1  .l 

To  say  the  least,  the  coincidence  of  name  is  some- 
what singular;  and  I  can  only  account  for  its  having 
escaped  entirely  the  attention  of  previous  investi- 
gators, by  explaining  that  the  first  Henry  Hud- 
son's name  is  spelt  by  Hakluyt,  Herdson.  That 
this  same  individual's  name  was  also  spelt  Hudson, 
I  learn  from  the  Proceedings  of  the  Court  of  Chan- 
cery, reign  of  Elizabeth,  vol.  II,  page  24.  The 
name  of  Christopher  Hudson  is  spelt  by  Hakluyt 
in  a  great  variety  of  ways — Hudson,  Hodson,  Hods- 
don.  Having,  however,  consulted  at  the  outset  of 
my  studies  the  learned  Camden's  Remaines  Con- 
cerning Britaine,  wherein  Heardson  is  said  to  be 

1  The  Advertisements  and  Reports  of  the  6th  voyage  made 
into  the  parts  of  Russia  and  Media  for  the  Companie  *  *  *  * 
in  the  years  1579-80-81.  By  Christopher  Burrough,  in  Hak- 
luyt, I,  421. 


20 

from  Herdingson  or  Hodgskinson,  and  Hodson  from 
Hod  or  Oddo,1  and  having  read  also  Lower's  curious 
deriviation  of  Hudson  from  Koger,  I  was  fully  pre- 
pared for  a  variety  of  peculiarities  in  the  modes  of 
spelling  Hudson.2  Before  attempting  to  present  the 
information  which  I  have  collected  about  the  first 
Henry  Hudson,  Christopher  Hudson  and  Thomas 
Hudson,  and  before  endeavoring  to  sum  up  my  con- 
victions as  to  the  relations  which  they  each  sustain- 
ed to  our  Henry  Hudson,  it  will  be  well  to  gain  an 
insight  into  the  history  of  the  great  corporation  with 
which  they  were  all  connected ;  and  whose  arch- 


1  Camden's  Remaines   Concerning   Britaine,  London.  1637, 
p.  133. 

2  The  following  account  of  the  origin  of  this  name  is  to  be 
found  in  the  London  ed.,  1860,  of  Lower's  Patronymica  Bri- 
tannica,  p.  159.     "  Hodgson,  the  son  of  Hodge  or  Roger.     This 
name  in  the  north  of  England  is  pronounced  Hodgin,  while  in 
the  south  it  has  taken  not   only  the  pronunciation,  but  the 
.spelling   of    Hodson    or   Hudson.     The  name  of  Hodgson  is 
ancient  at  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,   being  found  in  the  records 
of  temp.   Edward  I,  and  the  Hodgsons  of  Stella   and    Acton 
<Jo.,  Northumberland,  trace  a  clear  pedigree  to  1424."     Again 
on  p.  292,  same  work  :  "  Roger.     A  personal    name   unknown 
here  before  the  conquest.     Many  persons   called  Roger,  and 
Hogerous,  occur  as  tenants  in  Domesday.     From  it  are  formed 
Rogers,  Rodgers,  Rogerson,  &c.,  and  from  its  nick-name  Hodge, 
we  get    Hodges,    Hodgson,     Hodgkin,    Hotckin,   Hotchkins, 
Hotchkiss,    Hodgkinson,    Hockins,    Hodd,    Hodson,    Hudson. 
The  Norman  patronymical  form  is  Fitz-Roger,  and  the  Welsh, 
Ap-Roger,  now  Prodger." 


21 

ives,  if  they  are  still  extant,  contain,  I  am  inclined 
to  believe,  original  and  highly  interesting  informa- 
tion concerning  the  earlier  life  of  the  great  Navi- 
gator, whose  antecedents  are  the  subject  of  our 
immediate  enquiry. 

The  search  for  a  northwestern  passage  to  China 
was  first  practically  inaugurated  by  Sebastian 
Cabot,  who  sailed  from  England,  in  the  beginning.^ 
of  May,  1498.  Half  a  century  later,  the  same 
individual,  in  his  old  age,  promulgated  the  idea  of 
a  northerly  opening  to  India  or  Cathay,  and  at  his 
instigation,  a  company,  of  wrhich  he  was  made 
governor,  was  organized  for  its  discovery.  This 
association,  styled  the  Company  of  Merchant  Ad- 
venturers, Is,  after  a  brilliant  career  of  more  than 
three  hundred  years,  still  in  existence,  though 
generally  known  as  the  Muscovy  or  Russia  Com- 
pany. It  has,  however,  long  since  abandoned  the 
objects  it  was  originally  intended  to  promote. 

In  explanation  of  the  ready  support  accorded  to 
Cabot's  scheme,  we  need  only  be  reminded  of  the 
condition  of  the  maritime  affairs  of  Britain,  at  that 
period.  The  Germans  and  Italians  had  long 
monopolized  the  English  trade.  But  at  this  time 
transatlantic  discoveries,  and  the  commerce  conse- 
quent thereon  were  beginning  to  develop,  in  a  won- 


22 

derful  degree,  the  material  resources  of  Spain,  Por- 
tugal and  the  Netherlands,  while  the  prosperity  of 
Italy  and  the  Hanse  towns  was  proportionately 
declining.  England,  whose  commerce  visibly  lan- 
guished under  the  change,  now  became  eager  to 
escape  from  the  waning  powers  which  had  so  long 
controlled  her,  and  was  willing  to  engage  in  any 
enterprise  that  might  afford  a  chance  of  commer- 
cial  independence. 

Accordingly,  Cabot's  plan  for  distancing  all  com- 
petitors by  the  discovery  of  a  shorter  route  to  India 
by  the  north-east,  immediately  arrested  the  atten- 
tion of  men  of  influence,  who  were  ready  to  embark 
at  once  in  a  project  offering  such  desirable  results. 

Clement  Adams,  in  his  Newe  Navigation  and  Dis- 
coverie  of  the  Kingdome  of  Muscovia,  by  the  North- 
east, in  the  yeere  1553,  says :  "  At  what  time  our 
merchants  perceived  the  commodities  and  wares  of 
England  to  bee  in  small  request  with  the  countreys 
and  people  about  us  and  neere  unto  us,  and  that 
those  merchandizes  which  strangers  in  the  time 
and  memorie  of  our  auncesters  did  earnestly  seeke 
and  desire,  were  nowe  neglected  and  the  price 
thereof  abated,  although  by  us  carried  to  their 
owne  portes,  and  all  forreine  merchandizes  in  great 
accompt  and  their  prises  wonderfully  raised ;  cer- 


23 

taine  graue  citizens  of  London,  and  men  of  great 
wisedome,  and  carefull  for  the  good  of  theire  coun- 
trey,  began  to  thinke  with  themselves  howe  this 
mischiefe  might  be  remidied.  Neither  was  a  remi- 
die  (as  it  then  appeared)  wanting  to  their  desires, 
for  the  auoyding  of  so  great  an  inconvenience :  for, 
seeing  that  the  wealth  of  the  Spaniards  and  Por- 
tingalse,  by  the  discouerie  and  search  of  newe  trades 
and  conntreys  was  marueilously  increased,  suppos- 
ing the  same  to  be  a  course  and  meane  for  them 
also  to  obteine  the  like,  they  thereupon  resolued 
upon  a  newe  and  strange  nauigation.  And  where- 
as at  the  same  time  one  Sebastian  Cabota,  a  man 
in  those  dayes  very  renowned,  happened  to  be  in 
London,  they  began  first  of  all  to  deale  and  consult 
diligently  with  him,  and  after  much  speeche  and 
conference  together,  it  was  at  last  concluded  that 
three  shippes  should  bee  prepared  and  furnished 
out,  for  the  search  and  discouerie  of  the  northerne 
part  of  the  world,  to  open  a  way  and  passage  to 
our  men  for  trauaile  to  newe  and  unknowen  king- 
domes."  1 

Thus  it  happened  that  as  early  as  the  lt)th  of 
May,  1553,  before  the  association  was  formally  re- 


Hakluyt,  I,  243. 


24 

cognized  by  the  Crown,  it  had  despatched  an  ex- 
pedition1 under  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby,  Captain 
General  of  the  Fleet2  to  prosecute  the  above  design. 


]  Hakluyt,  I,  226-230,  has  carefully  preserved  the  4i  Ordi- 
nances, Instructions,  and  Advertisements  of  and  for  the 
Direction  of  the  intended  Voyage  for  Cathay,  compiled,  made 
and  deliuered  by  the  right  worshipfull  M.  Sebastian  Cabota, 
Esquier,  Gouernour  of  the  misterie  and  companie  of  the 
Marchants  aduenturers  for  the  discoverie  of  Regions,  Dommiii- 
ions,  Islands  and  places  vnknowen,  the  9.  day  of  May,  in  the 
yere  of  our  Lord  Gj)dJL553." 

2"Nowe  this  prouision  being  made  and  carried  aboord,  with 
armoure  and  ammunition  of  all  sorts,  sufficient  Captaines  and 
Gouernours  of  so  great  an  enterprise  were  yet  wanting:  to 
which  office  and  place,  although  many  men  offered  themselves, 
yet  one  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby,  a  most  valiant  gentleman,  and 
well  borne,  uery  ernestly  requested  to  have  that  care  and 
charge  committed  to  him :  of  whom  before  all  others,  both  by 
reason  of  his  goodly  personage  (for  he  was  of  a  tall  stature)  as 
for  his  singular  skill  in  the  services  of  war,  the  company  of 
the  Marchants  [of  Muscovia]  made  greatest  accornpt;  so  that 
at  the  last  they  concluded  and  made  choyce  of  him  for  the 
Generall  of  this  voyage  and  appointed  to  him  the  Admirall,  with 
authoritie  and  command  ouer  all  the  rest." — Clement  Adams, 
Hakluyt,  I,  243-244,  ed.  1599. 

In  all  expeditions  consisting  of  more  than  two  vessels,  one 
was  appointed  to  lead,  and  was  denominated  the  Admiral; 
another  was  elected  to  keep  a  look-out  astern;  and  was  known 
as  the  Vice-Admiral.  The  officer  in  command  of  the  entire 
fleet  was  named  the  General,  and  he  sailed  in  the  Admiral. 
The  second  in  command,  was  styled  the  Lieutenant  General, 
and  he  sailed  in  the  Vice-Admiral.  For  an  exceedingly  interest- 
ing article  entitled  "  Shipping,"  see  appendix,  Note  A,  to  Kun- 
dall's  very  valuable  work,  Voyages  to  the  North  West,  229. 


25 

After  untold  hardships  and  terrific  sufferings, 
two  of  these  vessels,  with  their  crews  and  their 
leader  Sir  Hugh,  reached  an  obscure  harbor  on 
the  desolate  coast  qfJLaj^ncl.  Here  he  sent  out 
in  a  south-south-westerly  direction,  three  men 
to  search  for  some  inhabitants,  who  went  three 
days  journey  but  could  find  none.  Afterwards, 
three  others  were  dispatched  four  days'  journey  to 
the  west,  who  also  returned  without  finding  any 
people.  Three  men  next  proceeded  three  days' 
journey  to  the  south-east,  who  in  like  sort,  re- 
turned without  finding  any  signs  of  habitation. 
Thus  helpless,  hopeless  and  abandoned,  they  were 
found  by  some  Russian  fishermen  who,  attracted 
by  the  absence  of  all  appearance  of  life,  boarded 
the  ships  and  discovered  the  unfortunate  men  frozen 
to  death.  The  corpse  of  the  gallant  Willoughby 
was  seated,  it  is  said,  at  a  table  in  the  cabin,  with  a 
pen  in  its  hand  and  the  ship's  Journal  before  it,  on 
whose  pages  was  traced  the  story  of  the  unavailing 
efforts  to  find  escape  from  the  approaches  of  an  ap- 
palling death.  The  ships,  with  the  dead  bodies  and 
most  of  the  goods,  were  sent  to  England  by  the  com- 
pany's agent  at  Moscow,  but  being  unstaunch  by 
their  two  years  wintering  in  Lapland,  the  unfor- 


26 

tunate  vessels  sunk  by  the  way  with  their  dead 
and  them  also  that  brought  them.1 

A  happier  fate  befell  the  third  vessel  of  the 
squadron,  the  Edward  Banaventure,  which  carried 
Richard  Chancellor,  pilot-major  of  the  fleet,  and 
was  commanded  by  Stephen  Burrough,  whose  sub- 
sequent discoveries  rendered  him  famous.  This 
ship  succeeded  in  entering  safely  the  Bay  of  St. 
Nicholas,  since  better  known  as  the  White  Sea, 
and  on  the  24th  of  August,  1553,  arrived  at 
the  western  mouth  of  the  River  Dwina.  From 
this  point  Richard  Chancellor  made  his  way 
overland  to  the  court  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia, 
where  a  most  cordial  reception  awaited  him, 
of  which  he  afterwards  wrote  an  interesting  ac- 
count, contained  in  "  The  booke  of  the  great  and 
mighty  Emperor  of  Russia  and  Duke  of  Mosco- 
uia."2 

Though  the  failure  of  Willoughby's  part  of  the 
Muscovy  Company's  first  expedition  was  peculiarly 
distressing,  yet  the  success  of  that  portion  under 
the  command  of  Richard  Chancellor  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  Company's  prosperity,  and  of  the 

1  Hakluyt,  I,  236,  237,  ed.  1599.    Milton's  Brief  History  of 
Muscovia,  p.  597. 

2  Hakluyt,  1,237. 


27 

commercial  and  political  relations  which,  with  but 
slight  interruptions,  have  continued  to  exist  be- 
tween Russia  and  England  to  the  present  day.1 

Soon  after  the  inauguration  of  intercourse  be- 
tween these  countries,  which  was  not  only  to 
exercise  great  influence  over  individuals,  but  also 
materially  to  affect  the  destinies  of  two  power- 
ful nations,  the  Company  of  Merchant  Adventurers, 
called  also  The  Society  for  the  Discovery  of  Un- 
known Lands,  obtained  from  Queen  Mary,  a  Char- 
ter bearing  date  the  6th  of  February,  1555.  In 
the  same  year  the  Emperor  of  Kussia  granted 
these  incorporated  English  Merchants  a  formal 
Charter  of  Privileges  to  trade  throughout  his 
dominions,2  in  accordance  with  the  informal  per- 
mission he  had  already  given  them  in  his  letter 
to  Edward  VI,  forwarded  February,  1554,  by  the 
hands  of  Richard  Chancellor.  Subsequently,  in 
the  eighth  year  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 


1  Hakluyt,  I,  255,  gives  "  The   Copie  of  the  Duke  of  Mos- 
couie  and  Emperour  of  Russia  his  letters,  sent  to  King  Edward 
the  sixt,  by  the  hands  of  Richard  Chancelour"  dated  February, 
1554,  giving  the  English  permission  to    trade.     We    find    also 
in  Hakluyt,  I,  258,  259,  "Letters  of  King  Philip  and  Queene 
Marie  "  to  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  written    April    1st,    1555, 
and  sent   by   Richard    Chancellor,    George    Killingworth    and 
Richard  Graie. 

2  Hakluyt,  I,  265-267,  ed.  1599. 


28 

1566,  they  procured  an  act  of  Parliament,  in 
which  they  were  styled,  The  Fellowship  of  English 
Merchants  For  Discovery  of  New  Trades.  Under 
this  title  they  still  continue,  although,  as  I  have 
already  said,  they  are  better  known  by  the  desig- 
nation of  the  Muscovy  or  Russia  Company. 

It  is  in  the  first  Patent  or  Charter  from 
Queen  Mary  given  in  the  year  1555,  that  the 
name  of  Henry  Herdson  occurs. 

From  this  Charter  we  learn  that  "  William  Mar- 
ques of  Winchester  Lord  high  Treasurer  of  this  our 
Realme  of  England,  Henrie  Earle  of  Arundel  Lord 
Stewards  of  our  householde,  John  Earle  of  Bedford 
Lord  keeper  of  our  priuie  Seale,  William  Earle  of 
Pembroke,  William  Lorde  Howard  of  Effinghain 
Lorde  hic/hAdmirallofoursaide  Realme  of  England," 
were  among  the  most  active  originators  of  the 
Company,  and  that  the  instrument  of  incorporation 
itself  was  given  in  answer  to  their  humble  peti- 
tion.1 

Sebastian  ( Cabota '  or  Cabot,  is  named  by  the 
Charter  first  Governor  of  the  Company ;  "  George 
Barnes,  Knight  and  Alderman  of  our  Citie  of  Lon- 
don, William  Garret,  Alderman  of  our  said  Citie, 
Anthonie  Husie,  and  John  Suthcot,"  are  consti- 


Hakluyt,  I,  pp.  267,  268. 


29 


tuted  "the  first  and  present  four  Consuls  of  the  said 
felowship ; "  and  "  Sir  John  Gresham,  Knight,  Sir 
Andrew  Judde,  Knight,  Sir  Thomas  White,  Knight, 
Sir  John  Yorke,  Knight,  Thomas  Offley  the  elder, 
Thomas  Lodge,  Henry  Herdson,  John  Hopkins, 
William  Watson,  Will.  Clifton,  Richard  Pointer, 
Richard  Chamberlaine,  William  Mallorie,  Thomas 
Pallie  the  elder,  William  Allen,  Henry  Becher, 
Geffrey  Walkenden,  Richard  Fowles,  Rowland 
Hey  ward,  George  Eaton,  John  Eliot,  John  Sparke, 
Blase  Sanders  and  Miles  Hording,"  are  ordained 
the  first  "  twenty-four  Assistants  to  the  saide  Gou- 


ernour," 


The  intentions  of  the  Company  to  send  out  ex- 
peditions to  the  Northwards,  North-eastwards,  and 
North-westwards  are  clearly  indicated  by  this  Char- 
ter ;  and  protection  is  expressly  guaranteed2  against 
the  interference  of  others  in  the  searches  in  those 
directions. 

I  have  already  particularly  directed  your  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  the  name  of  Henry  Hudson, 
the  founder  of  the  Muscovy  Company,  is  written 
Herdson  by  Hakluyt,  while  it  is  spelled  Hudson  in 
The  Proceedings  Of  The  Court  <f  Chancery  In  The 


1  Hakluyt,  I,  268,269. 

2  Hakluyt  I,  268,  272. 

5 


30 

Reign  Of  Elizabeth.  This  need  occasion  no  surprise 
if  we  will  remember  that  Lower  derives  Hudson 
from  Roger,  and  that  Camden  refers  it  to  Herd- 
ingson.  But  further  than  this,  I  have  found  the 
above  individual  and  his  SDUS  under  each  of  the 
following  forms :  Herdson,  Herdsun,  Herdsone, 
Herdsoun,  Heardson,  Hardson,  Hudson;  and  I  have 
seen  the  name  also  spelled,  Hodson,  Hoddeson,  Hod- 
shon,  Hodgson,  Hodgeson,  Hudgeson,  Hogsdon, 
Hogeson,  Hodisdon, .  Hodesdon,  Hoddesdon,  Hod- 
desdonn,  Hoddesden,  Huddesdon.1  In  fact  my  in- 
vestigations have  developed  a  still  more  incon- 
ceivable variety  of  methods,  but  I  am  content 
to  cite  the  preceding  twenty-one  examples,  for  the 
purpose  of  illustrating  the  constant  changes  which 
English  names  underwent  in  that  age,2  and  to  show 
how  exceedingly  difficult  it  is  to  recognize  always 
the  person  for  whom  we  are  searching.  It  was 
not  indeed  uncommon  in  the  16th  century  even, 
for  a  man  to  spell  his  own  name  differently  at  dif- 
ferent periods  of  his  life.  Many  interesting  facts 


1  Hakluyt,   Proc.    Ct.    Oh.,    Rg.  Of  Eliz.      Machyn's  Di<m/. 
Magna  Britannia.     Sims'  Index  to  Heraldic  Visitations.     The 
Topographer  and  Genealogist,  London,   1853.     Stow's    Survey 
of  London. 

2  Mr.  Cayloy  when   speaking  of  Sir   Walter  Ralegh's  name 
says:     "  Few  names  vary  so  much  in  the  manner  of  writing  it. 


31 

doubtless  escape  the  attention  of  students,  simply 
because  the  person  to  whom  they  relate  is  effect- 
ually disguised  by  the  uncouth  spelling  of  his 
name.  Bearing  this  in  mind  I  have  endeavored  to 
identify  my  personages  under  all  circumstances. 

The  Henry  Hudson1  who  is  named  in  Queen 
Mary's  charter  as  one  of  the  founders  and  first  As- 
sistants of  the  Muscovy  Company,  was  a  man  of 
large  wealth  and  extended  influence.2  He  was  a 


We  have  seen  it  written  in  thirteen  different  ways,  namely : 
Ralegh,  Raleghe,  Raleigh,  Rawleigh,  Rawlie,  Rawley,  Rawly, 
Rauleighe,  Rale,  Real,  Reali,  Ralego.  His  original  letters  in 
the  Harleian  Collection,  and  his  MS.  Journal  of  his  Second 
Voyage,  prove  that  Sir  Walter  himself  wrote  Ralegh.  In  his 
commission  for  his  second  journey  to  Gruiana  it  is  written  in 
Rymer's  Fcudera,  Rawleigh,  while  the  commission  is  headed : 
*  De  Commissione  Special!  dilecto  Waltero  Rawley  Militi  con- 
cernente  Voiagium  Guianianum.'  Sir  Arthur  Georges  in  a 
letter  to  Sir  Robert  Cecil  writes  it  Rawly.  In  the  copy  of  Sir 
Walter's  arraignment,  Sir  Thomas  Overbury  writes  the  name 
Rawleigh.  In  the  scarce  pamphlet,  '  Newes  of  Sir  Walter 
Rauleigh,'  it  is  spelt  in  the  manner  just  mentioned.  Fray  Si- 
mon calls  him  "  Real  o  Reali,"  Gili  "  Ralego/'  King  James 
in  his  Declaration  writes  the  name  Raleigh,  which  orthography 
Sir  Walter's  son  Carew  seems  to  have  adopted.  Sir  Robert 
Naunton  and  Lord  Bacon  write  Rawleigh.  We  have  adopted 
the  orthography  of  Sir  Walter  himself."  Note,  pp.  xiv,  xv, 
Ralegh's  Discovery  of  Guiana.  Hak.  Soc.  Pub.  London,  1848. 

1 1  use  this  spelling  to  avoid  confusion. 

2 1  have  been  unable  to  find  any  connected  account  of  him; 
the  information  in  the  text  is  gleaned  from  a  great  variety  of 
sources. 


32 

citizen  of  London,  and  a  member  of  the  corpora- 
tion of  Skinners,  or  Tanners,1  one  of  the  twelve 
privileged  Companies  from  which  alone  the  Lord 
Mayor  can  be  chosen.2 

"  This  Company  of  Skinners,"  says  Stow,  "  was 
incorporate  by  Edward  the  3.  in  the  first  of  his 
reigne ;  they  had  two  Brotherhoods  of  Corpus 
Christi,  viz.  one  at  St.  Mary  Spittle,3  the  other  at 
St.  Mary  Bethlem,  without  Bishopsgate.  Bich- 

1  The  Skinners,  or  Tanners,  vide  "  Diary  of  Henry  Machyn, 
A.  D  1550  to  1563."     Camden  Soc.  Pub.  1848,  page  99. 

2  There  are  in  the  City  of  London  seventy-two  Companies  of 
which  twelve  are  the   Chief,  who  have  this  Preeminence  that 
the  Lord-mayor  must  always  be  free  of  one  of  them,  for  if  it  hap- 
pens that  a  Mayor  be  elected  out  of  any  other  Company,  he 
must  remove  to  one  of  those  twelve,  before  he  can  be  sworn  and 
act.     These  Companies  are, 

1.  Mercers.  7.  Merchant  Taylors. 

2.  Grocers.  8.  Haberdashers. 

3.  Drapers.  9.  Salters. 

4.  Fishmonger s.  10.  Ironmongers. 

5.  Goldsmiths.  11.  Vintners. 

6.  Skinners.  12.  Cloathivorkers. 

The  other  Companies  are  equal  to  these  in  other  Privileges, 
all  of  them  enjoying  large  Immunities  and  Benefits  by  their 
Royal  Charters  granted  to  them  severally,  and  most  of  them 
have  fair  Halls  to  meet  in  for  the  regular  Government  of  their 
members. 

Acct.  of  London,  Magna  Britannia,  III,  pp.  75,  76.  Edi- 
tion of  1738. 

3  Hospital. 


33 

ard  the  Second,  in  the  eighteenth  of  his  reigne, 
granted  them  to  make  their  two  Brotherhoods 
one,  by  the  name  of  the  Fraternity  of  Corpus 
Cliristi  of  Skinners.  Divers  royall  persons  were 
named  to  bee  Founders,  and  Brethren  of  this 
Fraternity,  to  wit ;  Kings  sixe,  Dukes  nine,  Earles 
two,  Lords  one,  Kings,  Edward  the  third,  Rich- 
ard the  second,  Henry  the  fifth,  Henry  the  sixth, 
and  Edward  the  fourth."1 

Mr.  Hudson  served  as  an  Alderman 2  and  would 
undoubtedly  have  -been  elected  to  the  Mayoralty 
had  his  life  been  spared.  Like  his  contemporary 
Sir  John  Gresham  the  elder,  uncle  of  the  cele- 
brated Sir  Thomas  Gresham,  Mr.  Hudson  having 
amassed  a  great  fortune  in  trade,  became  the  pur- 
chaser of  extensive  landed  estates.  I  find  in  the 
Magna  Britannia,  published  in  1738,  that  after 
the  suppression  of  the  Monasteries,  the  crown 
granted  the  forfeited  church  lands  at  Hitchin,  in 
the  County  of  Hertfordshire,  to  Edward  Watson 
and  Henry  Hudson,  Gentleman.3 

1  Stow's  Survey  of  London,  248,  ed.  1633. 

2Machyn's  Diary,  p.  99.  Proc.  Ct.  Chancery,  Reign  of 
Eliz.,  vol.  II,  p.  24. 

3 "  Hitchin  ;  here  are  two  small  Priories,  the  one  of  white 
Carmelites,  founded  by  John  Blomville,  Adam  Rouse,  and  John 
Cobham,  and  dedicated  to  our  Saviour,  and  the  blessed  Virgin 


34 

Sir  Bernard  Burke,  in  his  account  of  the  Dix- 
well  Family,  speaks  of  Henry  Hudson  Esq..  of 
Stourton,  in  Lincolnshire.1  Although  I  have  been 
unable  to  trace  him  to  that  locality,  owing  doubt- 
less to  the  absence  of  the  proper  authorities,  I  am 
decidedly  of  the  opinion  that  Henry  Hudson  pos- 
sessed property  in  that  neighborhood  at  an  early 
period;  I  am  the  more  firmly  convinced  of  the 
fact,  as  it  explains  the  constant  intercourse,  and 
intimate  business  relations,  evidently  existing  be- 
tween him  and  Edward,  Lord  Clinton,  who  built 
the  fine  mansion  at  Sempringham,2  and  had  other 
great  estates  in  Lincolnshire. 

To  use  the  words  of  Mr.  Burgon  in  his  life  of 
Sir  Thomas  Gresham  :„  "  This  may  be  as  proper  a 
place  as  any  other  to  mention,  that  my  reading 


and  King  Edward  II,  confirm'd  the  Endowments.  These 
Monks  held  this  House  till  21  Henry  VIII,  when  it  was  sur- 
render'd  to  that  King,  being  valued  at  £4.  9s.  4d.  per  Ann. 
After  the  Dissolution,  it  was  granted  to  Edward  Watson  and 
Henry  Herdson  Gent.,  who  conveyed  it  to  the  Raddiffs,  in 
which  family  it  still  remains,  Sir  Ralph  Radcliff  being  the 
present  owner." 

Magna  Britannia,  Act.  of  Hertfordshire,  ed.  Lon.  1788,  II, 
1027. 

iBurke's    Extinct    and    Dormant   Baronetage,    161,    162. 
London,  1838. 

2  Magna  Britannia,  II,  1416.     London  ed.,  1738. 


35 

has  led  me  to  quite  a  different  conclusion  re- 
specting the  estimation  in  which  merchants  were 
formerly  held,  to  that  entertained  by  the  elegant 
author  of  Illustrations  of  British  History.  Mr. 
Lodge  considers  that  the  nobility  of  other  days 
kept  themselves  at  a  distance  from  even  the  first 
members  of  the  commercial  order ; x  but  I  believe 
the  contrary  will  be  established  by  the  following 
pages.  What  is  strange,  the  nobles  appear  among 
the  most  enterprising  speculators,  and  were  them- 
selves traders  on  the  grandest  scale.  In  Queen 
Mary's  reign,  for  instance,  when  the  Muscovy 
merchants  were  incorporated  (that  is  to  say,  the 
first  English  company  which  traded  to  Russia),  the 
most  powerful  of  the  nobility  stand  foremost  in 
the  list  of  members." 2 

"  The  Earls  of  Leicester  and  Shrewsbury  sent  out 
joint-adventures  to  Muscovia  in  1574;  on  which 
occasion  the  first-named  peer  writes  to  his  friend, 
'I  assure  you  if  I  had  had  10,000?.  in  my  purse,  I 
wold  have  adventured  it  every  peny  myself.3' 

Mr.  Hudson's   friend  u  Lord  Clinton  and  Say," 


1  Illustrations  of  British  History,  vol.  Ill,  p.  151,  Note. 

2  Stryp's  Stowe,  ed.  1720,  ch.  v.,  260. 

3  Lodge's  Illustrations,  vol.  IT,  p.  46.     Burgon's  Life  of  Sir 
Thomas  Gresham,  vol.  I,  47,48. 


36 

is  frequently  mentioned  by  Machyn.1  He  was 
created  Lord  High  Admiral  of  England  by  pat- 
ent the  14th  of  May  (4  Edw.  VI),  1550;  and  re- 
tained that  office  until  the  10th  of  March.  1554; 
when  he  was  succeeded  by  Lord  Howard  of  Effing- 
ham.  He  was  again  appointed  Lord  Admiral  by 
Philip  and  Mary  in  1558;  and  was  continued  by 
Queen  Elizabeth,  who  advanced  him,  in  the  14th 
year  of  her  reign,  to  the  earldom  of  Lincoln.  He 
was  one  of  her  Majesty's  Privy  Council ;  and  one  of 
those  appointed  for  the  trial  of  the  Duke  of  Nor- 
folk. He  died  while  in  office  in  the  year  1585.2 

From  Lord  Clinton,  who  was,  by  the  way,  an  an- 
cestor of  the  late  Duke  of  New  Castle,3  who  accom- 
panied the  Prince  of  Wales  to  this  Country,  Mr. 
Hudson  purchased  the  manor  of  Bertrams  and  the 
manor  of  Newington  juxta  Hith,  or  Newington  Bel- 
liouse,  in  the  "Lathe,"  or  Hundred  of  Shepway, 
County  of  Kent.4  From  the  same  nobleman,  he 

I'Machyn's  Diary,  pages  6,7,0,20,81,85,79,143,197, 
202,  207,  23:}. 

2  Lists  of  Officers    of  State  during  the  period  covered    by 
Machyn's  Diary.     Prepared  by  John  Gough  Nichols,  F.  S.  A. 
Camden  Soc.  Pub.,  1848,  page  xvi.     l\fayna  Britannia,  II,  14- 
42,  Lond.,  ed.  1737.     For  an  extended  account  of  Clinton,  see 
Lodge,  II. 

3  Burke's  Peerage  and  Baronetage. 

4  Mag.  Brit.,  11,1184.  1185. 


37 

bought  the  ancient  manors  of  Stelting,  Ackhangtr, 
Terlingliam,  and  the  still  more  venerable  and  ex- 
tensive manors  of  fbUcston  and  Walton.1  He  was 
also  Lord  of  the  manor  of  /Sweton.2 

Alderman  Henry  Hudson  died  in  the  City  of 
London,  of  a  peculiar  kind  of  malignant  fever, 
which  raged  with  such  violence  in  the  metropolis, 
that  seven  aldermen,  Hudson,  Dobbs?  Laxton,  Hob- 
blethorne,  Champneys,  Ayloffe,  and  Gresham,3 
fell  victims  to  it,  within  the  space  of  ten  months.4 


*  Mag.  Brit.,  II,  pages,  1178,  1183,  1184. 

2  Proc.  Court  of  Chancery,  Reign  of  Elizabeth,  II,  24.    No.  56. 

3  Sir   John  Gresham,  the  elder,  deceased  the  23d  October, 
1555.     He  was  Sheriff  of  London  in  1537,  and  was  knighted 
while  in  office.     In  1547,  while  Lord  Mayor,  he  revived  the 
splendid  pageant  of  the  Marching  Watch.     Stow's  Survey,  ed. 
1720,  quoted  by  Burgon.     Sir  John   Gresham,  Senior,  should 
not  be  confounded  with  his  nephew  Sir  John  Gresham,  whose 
name  heads  the  list  of  Assistants  of  the  Muscovy  Company  in 
Queen   Mary's  Charter.     The  younger  Sir  John  was  born  in 
1518,  received  the  honor  of  Knighthood  from  the  Protector 
Somerset,  on  the  field,  after  the  victory  of  Musselburgh,  in  1547. 
Like  the   rest  of  his  family  he  was  a  mercer  and  merchant- 
adventurer.  He  died  in  the  year  1560.  Burgon's  Life  of  Sir 
Thos.  Gresham,  I,  369,  370. 

4  Machyn's  Diary.    Notes,  page  353.     Burgon's  Life  of  Sir 
Thomas  Gresham,  I,  19. 

"The  last  year  began  the  hote  burning  feuers  whereof,  died 
many  olde  persons,  so  that  in  London  died  seven  Alderman,  in 
the     space    of    tenne     moneths."     Howe's     Abridge.    Stow's 
Chronicle,  p.  276,  London,  1618. 
6 


38 

Machyn  gives  the  following  account  of  the  im- 
posing ceremonies  observed  at  his  funeral :  "  The 
XX  day  of  Dessember  [1555]  was  bered  at  sant 
Donstones  in  the  Est  master  Hare  Herdsun,  al- 
therman  of  London  and  skynner,  and  on  of  the 
masturs  of  the  hospetall  of  the  gray  frers l  in  Lon- 
don, with  men  and  xxiiij  women  in  mantyll  fresse2 
gownes,  a  hersse  of  wax,3  and  hong  with  blake ; 


1  Grey  Friars.     The  following  Latin  sepulchral  inscription 
found  in  the   Churcli  of  the  Grey  Friars,  London,  refers  per- 
haps to  the  parents  of  this  Henry  Hudson  : "Roudolfi  Hud- 
son civis  et  aurifate,  Lond.  et  Elizabeth  ux  eius ;  qui  ob   27, 
June  153°."    Vide    Collectanea   Topographica  et  Genealogica, 
V,  392. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  proper  to  mention  that  the  ac- 
count of  the  "  Meeting  of  Henry  VIII,  and  Charles  V" 
(given  page  57,  Rutland  Papers,  Camden  Soc.  Publications, 
London,  1842),  contains  a  notice  of  the  attendance  upon  the 
English  King  during  his  pleasant  visit  to  Gravelines  on  the 
iOth  of  July,  1520,  in  which  an  allusion  is  made  to  a  William 
Hodgeson  or  Hudson  as  '  Chiefe  Officer  of  the  Botrye/  Thomas 
More  is  also  spoken  of  as  '  Chiefe  Officer  of  the  Pitcher  House/ 
and  Thomas  Weldon,  an  ancestor  of  sir  Anthony,  the  libeller 
of  the  Stuarts,  is  referred  to  as  holding  an  office  apparently  of 
inferior  rank  in  the  ewry. 

2  Probably  frieze  made  purposely  for  mantles. 

3 The  Hearse  was,  on  grand  occasions,  ready  to  receive  the 
corpse  when  it  arrived  within  the  Church  ;  having  been  erected 
a  day  or  two  before.  It  was  a  frame  "  made  of  timber,  and  cov- 
ered with  black,  and  armes  upon  the  blacke."  The  term  "  herse 
of  wax,"  is  one  of  continual  recurrence,  and  is  to  be  understood 
not  of  the  material  of  the  hearse  itself,  but  of  the  candles  and 


39 

and  ther  was  my  lord  mare  and  the  swordberer 
in  blake,  and  dyvers  odur  althermen  in  blake,  and 
the  resedew  of  the  aldermen,  atys  berying ;  and  all 
the  masters,  boyth  althermen  and  odur,  with  ther 
gren  stayffes  in  ther  handes,  and  all  the  chylderyn 
of  the  gray  frersse,  and  iiij  men  in  blake  gownes 
bayryng  iiij  gret  stayffes-torchys  bornyng,  and 
then  xxiiij  men  with  torchys  bornyng ;  and  the 
morowe  iij  masses  songe;  and  after  to  ys  plasse 
to  dener ;  and  ther  was  ij  goodly  whyt  branchys, 
and  mony  prestes  and  clarkes  syngyng."1 


tapers  with  which  it  was  covered.  What  we  now  call  a  hearse 
is  described  by  Machyn  as,  "  a  wagon  with  iiij  wheels,  all 
covered  with  blacke." 

1 "  Henry  Machyn,  Citizen  and  Merchant-Taylor  of  London/' 
was  born  in  the  year  1496  or  1498.  He  was  probably  "  in  that 
department  of  the  trade  of  a  merchant-taylor  which  we  now  call 
an  undertaker  or  furnisher  of  funerals."  The  remarkable  Diary 
of  which  he  was  the  author,  covers  a  period  of  thirteen  event- 
ful years,  viz.  :  from  1550  to  1563.  It  doubtless  originated 
from  the  nature  of  the  writer's  business,  and  it  is  at  first  a  mere 
record  of  the  principal  Funerals  for  which  he  was  employed  to 
provide.  The  first  event  of  another  kind  commemorated  is  the 
committal  of  Bishop  Gardiner  to  the  Tower  in  Feb.,  1550-1; 
after  which  he  enters  every  occurrence  that  struck  him  as  de- 
serving of  remembrance.  Strype,  the  English  Ecclesiastical 
Historian,  incorporated  in  his  works  many  passages  from  Ma- 
chyn's  Diary,  which  have  been  frequently  quoted  by  subsequent 
writers. 

The  manuscript  itself  was  in  the  Cottonian  Library,  and 
suffered  somewhat  in  the  fire  The  injured  leaves  were  kept 


40 

Mr.  Hudson's  widow  Barbara  afterwards  married 
Alderman  Sir  Richard  Champion,1  who  was  elected 
Sheriff  in  1558-9  ;  Lord  Mayor  of  London  1566  ; 
and  died  without  issue  in  1568.2  The  lady  Bar- 
bara was  godmother  to  Thomas  White,  son  of  Sir 
John  White,  and  nephew  of  the  Sir  Thomas  White, 
whom  we  recognize  as  one  of  the  Muscovy  Com- 
pany's first  Assistants.3  She  erected  a  monument 
in  St.  Dunstan's  in  the  East,  with  kneeling  effigies 
of  herself  and  both  the  aldermen  her  husbands. 

The  arms  of  Henry  Hudson  were  Argent,  seme*e 
of  fleurs-de-lis  gules,  a  cross  engrailed  sable.4 


loose  in  a  case  until  1829,  when  they  were  carefully  arranged, 
and  inlaid,  under  the  superintendence  of  Sir  Frederick  Madden, 
who  bears  witness  to  their  value. 

In  1848,  the  Cam  den  Society  of  London,  printed  the  Diary, 
from  the  original  manuscript.  The  publication  was  edited  by 
John  Gough  Nichols,  F.  S.  A.,  who  says ;  "  these  records  will 
afford  valuable  assistance  to  the  family  historian  and  genea- 
logist." I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Nichols'  admirable  Introduction 
and  learned  notes,  for  my  information  respecting  Machyn,  and 
the  origin  of  his  Diary. 

1  Nichols'  Notes  to  Machyn's  Diary,  Camden  Soc.  Publica- 
tions, London,  1848,  page  347. 

2  The  Magna  Britannia  has  it  Oct.  30th,  1561.  I  prefer  to  fol- 
low the  date  given  on  his  monument,  viz  :  Oct.  30th,  1568.    See 
Stow's  Survey  of  London,  p.  139,  ed.  1633. 

3  Machyn's  Diary,  p.  248,  Hakluyt  I,  269,  ed.  1599. 

4  Nichols'  Notes  to  Machyn's  Diary,  Cam.  Soc.  Pub.  London, 
1848,  page  347.     List  given  by  William  Smith,  Rouge-dragon. 


41 

The  following  account  of  the  monument  and  its 
surroundings,  with  the  poetical  epitaphs,  is  pre- 
served in  Stow's  Survey  of  London?  "On  the 
South  side  of  the  Chancell,  [of  the  Parish  Church 
of  St.  Dunstan's  in  the  East,  Tower  Street  Ward,] 
Standeth  an  ancient  Marble  Tombe.  *  *  * 
Close  by  it  standeth  another  very  faire  Alabaster 
Tombe,  richly  and  curiously  gilded,  and  two  an- 
cient figures  of  Aldermen  in  scarlet  Kneeling,  the 
one,  at  one  end  of  the  Tombe  in  a  goodly  Arch, 
the  other,  at  the  other  end  in  like  manner,  and  a 
comely  figure  of  a  Lady  betweene  them,  who  was 
wife  to  them  both.  By  the  one  standeth  a  table, 
with  this  inscription  : 

!  "Here  lyeth  Henry  Heardsons  corps, 

within  this  Tombe  of  Stone  : 
His  Soule  (through  faith  in  Christ's  death,) 

to  God  in  Heaven  is  gone. 
Whiles  that  he  lived  an  Alderman, 
and  Skinner  was  his  state  : 


"  A  Book  in  fol,  of  98  leaves,  written  in  a  fair  hand  on  vel- 
lum, containing  the  Arms  in  Coulours  and  Pedigrees  of  Fami- 
lies in  the  County  of  Sussex,  taken  at  a  visitation  A.  D.  1634," 
is  mentioned  in  the  Catalogue  Harleian  MSS.,  vol.  Ill,  p.  335 
On  page  24  of  this  document  may  be  found  The  Arms  and 
Pedigrees  of  the  Hudson  Family  of  Sussex,  which  might  throw 
much  lighten  the  subject  under  discussion. 

i  Stow's  Survey  of  London,  138,  139,  ed.  1633. 


42 


To  Vertue  bare  hee  all  his  love, 

to  vice  he  bare  his  hate. 
His  Almes  that  weekely  he  bestowed, 

within  this  Parish  here, 
May  witnesse  to  the  poores  releefe, 

what  good  will  hee  did  beare. 
He  had  to  wife  one  Barbara, 

which  made  this  Tombe  you  see  : 
By  whom  he  had  of  issue  store, 

eight  sonnes  and  daughters  three. 
Obiit  22.  Decemb.  An.  Dom.  1555." 

By  the  other  standeth  the  like  Table  thus  in- 
scribed : 

The  Corps  of  Kichard  Champion,  Knight, 

Maior  and  Draper,  herein  doth  rest: 
Whose  soule  by  most  assured  hope, 

with  Christ  in  Heaven  is  blest. 
His  life  was  such,  and  so  imployed, 

to  right  from  wrong  ;  that  hee 
Whom  God  did  so  direct  in  life, 

must  needs  with  comfort  dye : 
Both  rich  and  poore  did  like  him  well, 

and  yet  doe  praise  his  name : 
Though  he  behiude  him  left  no  child, 

which  might  declare  the  same. 
His  weekely  almes  that  is  bestowed, 

within  this  Parish  here  : 
Doth  witnesse  to  the  poores  comfort, 

the  good  will  hee  did  beare. 
Obiit  30  Octobris,  An.  Dom.  1568.1 


1  The  following  is  taken  from  the  '  Account  of  London  '  given 
in  Magna  Britannia,  vol.  Ill,  page  85. 


43 


It  will  be  observed  that  according  to  Stow  the 
name  was  spelled  in  the  epitaph,  Heardson. 
Stow,  however,  spells  it  elsewhere,  Herdson  and 
Hudson. 

The  few  facts  which  I  have  gleaned  concerning 
Henry  Hudson,  Esquire,  founder  and  Assistant  of 
the  Muscovy  Company,  exhibit  his  character  in 
the  most  favorable  light.  One  thing  is  particularly 
noticeable ;  although  the  lapse  of  three  hundred 
years  has  left  us  a  somewhat  imperfect  view  of 
the  man,  it  has  failed  to  obliterate  the  record  of 
his  charities.  We  recognize  in  him  one  of  the 
leading  spirits  of  an  age  remarkable  for  its  com- 
mercial enterprise;  but  farther  than  this,  our 
sympathies  are  enlisted  in  his  behalf  as  having 
been  distinguished,  by  great  benevolence  and  gene- 
rosity of  conduct,  through  a  long  and  prosperous 
career. 

He  was  tjbte  friend  and  associate  of  men  of  the 
highest  rank,  and  was  held  in  great  respect  by 

"  St.  Dunstan's  in  the  East,  is  situated  between  Thames 
Street  and  Tower  Street.  It  is  so  called  to  distinguish  it  from 
another  Church  dedicated  to  the  same  Saint,  standing  in  Fleet 
Street,  and  called  St.  Dunstan's  in  the  West.  The  monuments 
of  note  in  this  church  are  th^§e,  viz:  For  *  *  *  *  Sir  Rich- 
ard Champion,  who  gave  £8,  per  annum.  He  died  October 
30th,  1561.  For  Henry  Herdson,  Alderman,  who  gave  £22, 
6s.  per  Annum.  He  died  December,  1555. 


44 

all  classes.  He  was  at  the  same  time  ready  to 
relieve  the  poor,  and  treated  those  below  him  in 
station,  with  constant  dignity  and  kindness.  At 
his  death  he  bequeathed  to  his  family  ample 
estates,1  and  an  unsullied  reputation. 

This  gentleman,  whom  Hakluyt  tells  us  was 
one  of  the  original  Assistants  of  the  Muscovy  Com- 
pany, was,  as  I  believe,  the  ancestor  of  Henry 
Hudson,  who  fifty-four  years  afterwards  discovered 
Delaware  Bay  and  Hudson's  River. 

Henry  Hudson,  the  elder,  left  three  daughters, 
one  of  them,  Abigail,  married  Charles  Dixwell, 
Esq.,  of  Coton,  in  the  County  of  Warwick,  and 
had  issue. 

1.  William,   who   inherited  Coton,    and  was  the 
ancestor  of  the  Dixwells  of  Coton  Hall, '  extinct 
Baronets. 

2.  Edward,  named  after  his  mother's  brother,  Ed. 
Hudson. 

3.  Humphrey. 

4.  Basil. 


1  Burgon  says  of  W.  Read,  Esquire,  who  died  ten  years  earlier 
lhan  Mr.  Hudson;  "  his  clear  annual  income,  derived  from  his 
own  and  his  wife's  estates  in  Suffolk,  amounted  to  £138,  15s. 
4d.,  of  which  £67  per  annum  descended  to  his  eldest  son. 
Such  was  the  income  of  a  gentleman  considered  wealthy  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  V11I,  and  such  the  expectations  of  his  heir." 

2 Vide  Burke's  Extinct  and  Dormant  Baronetage,  page  161 


45 


5.  Barbara,  named  after  her  grandmother  Barbara 

Hudson. 

Henry  Hudson,  the  elder,  left  eight  sons.  Three 
of  these,  viz:  Thomas  Hudson,  John  Hudson,  and 
Edward  or  Edmund  Hudson,  are  mentioned  in  this 
order  in  the  Calendar  of  Proceedings  in  the  Court 
of  Chancery,  Reign  of  Elizabeth.^  From  the  same 
source  I  learn  that  Thomas  Hudson,  Esq.,  con- 
veyed to  his  brother  John  Hudson,  '  for  certain 
purposes,'  the  manors  of  Newing  Belhouse,  New- 
ington  Bartram,  Newington  Fee,  Damyott,  Bren- 
sett,  Sachfilde,  and  Stepiars,  in  the  County  of 
Kent.2  This  John  Hudson  dying  without  issue, 
bequeathed  his  estates  to  his  sister's  youngest  son, 
Sir  Basil  Dixwell,  Bart.,3  who  transplanted  him- 
self accordingly  from  the  County  of  Warwick,  to 
Terlingham  in  Kent  County,  where  he  continued 
until  the  year  1622,  when  he  removed  to  Broome, 
in  the  same  county,  also  a  manor  of  his,  on  which 
lie  had  recently  erected  a  handsome  mansion-house. 
He  served  the  office  of  Sheriff  in  the  2d  year  of 
Charles  I,  and  was  created  a  Baronet  by  that  mon- 
arch, 18th  February,  1627.  He  died  unmarried 


i  Cal  Proc.  Court  of  Chanc.,  Rg.  Eliz.,  II,  24. 
«  Cal.  Proc.  Court  of  Chanc.,  Rg.  Eliz.,  II,  62. 
3  Mayna  Britannia,  II,  1178,  1183, 1184,  1185. 

7 


46 

in  1641,  when  the  Baronetcy  became  extinct,  and 
his  estates  devolved,  under  his  will,  upon  his  ne- 
phew, Mark  Dixwell,  Esq.,  son  of  his  brother  Wil- 
liam, who  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  M.  Read, 
and  sister  of  "W.  Read  Esq.,  of  Folkestone,  and  was 
the  ancestor  of  Sir  Henry  Oxenden,  Bart.,  the 
present  possessor  of  the  ancient  estates  of  John 
Hudson,  the  male  line  of  the  Dixwells  having  failed.1 
I  have  no  definite  information  relative  to  Ed- 
ward Hudson.,  the  third  son  of  Henry  Hudson,  the 
elder.  George,  Edmund,  John,2  and  William  Hud- 
son,3 infants,  were  parties,  however,  in  a  suit  in  the 


1  Burke's  Ex.  and  Dormant  Baronetage,  pp.  161,  162. 

2  A.  D.  1575,  June  3.     We  find  a  John  Hudson  in  the  list  of 
Masters   of  Art,  under  the  above  Date:     "John  Hudson  of 
Broadgates   Hall.     He  was  afterwards  vicar  of  Patcham  in 
Sussex  and  Author  of  A  Sermon  At  Pauls  Cross  on  Hebrews, 
10:    19,  Lond.   1584,  Oct.,  and  perhaps    of  other   matters/' 
Wood's  Athens*  Ox.,  vol.  I,  p.  738. 

3  The  following  extracts  suggest  the  idea,  that  the  William 
Hudson  mentioned  therein,  is  identical  with  the  William  Hud- 
son in  the  text,  and  that  he,  and  his  son  Christopher  Hudson, 
also  mentioned  therein,  were  members  in  a  later  generation  of 
the  same  family  to  which  Christopher  Hudson,  of  the  Muscovy 
Company's  Service,  belonged. 

"  A  Treatise  on  the  Court  of  the  Star  Chamber,  written  by 
Wm.  Hudson,  of  Greys  Inn,  Esq.,  and  containing  a  very  full 
and  elaborate  account  of  that  tribunal."  "  This  Treatise  or 
survey  of  the  Court  of  Star  Chamber,  will,  upon  reading,  ap- 
pear to  be  wrote  in  a  masterly  yet  humble  manner,  and  by  im- 


47 

reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  to  enforce  the  payment  of 
legacies  out  of  the  estate  of  their  father  Edmund 
Hudson.  It  may  be  that  this  Edmund  Hudson 
and  Edward  Hudson  were  one  and  the  same  per- 
son. This  seems  the  more  probable,  as  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Edmund  Hudson  above  mentioned 
was  in  Essex,  the  county  adjoining  Kent,  in  which 
John  Hudson  lived.1 

We  have  seen  that  Thomas  Hudson,  the  eldest 
son  of  Henry  Hudson,  Senior,  conveyed  to  John 
Hudson  certain  lands,  and  that  he  afterwards 


partial  readers  to  be  approved.  It  was  begun  in  the  reign  of 
K.  Ja.  1st  and  finished  early  in  the  reign  of  Ch.  1st."  Lans- 
downe  Catal.  It  appears  from  the  work  itself  that  Hudson  was 
a  barrister  and  a  practitioner  in  the  Court  of  the  Star  Chamber. 
Some  further  account  of  him  may  be  seen  in  a  note  by  Hum- 
phrey Wanley,  which  follows  the  above  by  Mr.  Umfreville,  and 
also  in  the  Harl.  Catal.  of  MS.,  No.  1226."  Catalogue  of  the 
Lansdowne  MS.,  in  the  British  Museum,  No.  622.  Win. 
Hudson  is  mentioned  in  No.  639,  fol.  Lansdowne  Catal.,  as 
"  one  of  the  Registers  of  the  Court  of  Star  Chamber." 

"This  Treatise  was  compiled  by  Wm.  Hudson  of  Grais 
Inne,  Esq.,  one  very  much  practized  and  of  great  experience 
in.  the  Star  Chamber;  and  my  very  affectionate  friend.  His 
sonne  and  heyr  Mr.  Christopher  Hudson  (whose  handwryting 
this  bookc  is),  after  his  father's  death  gave  it  to  mee  19th  De- 
cembris,  1635.  Jo.  Finch."  Catal.  Harleian  MSS.,  No.  1226, 
vol.  I,  p.  612. 

iProc.  Ct.  Ch.,  Rg.  Eliz.,  II,  84.  These  calendars,  un- 
fortunately, do  not  indicate  the  dates  of  the  papers  preserved 
in  them,  except  in  a  few  instances. 


48 

brought  suit  against  this  younger,  brother  in  the 
Court  of  Chancery,  to  settle  sundry  accounts  grow- 
ing out  of  the  transfer.1  This  is  all  we  positively 
know  in  reference  to  the  matter.  It  is  possible 
that  Thomas  Hudson  had  become  embarrassed,  and 
had  been  obliged  to  give  up  his  share  of  the  inher- 
itance to  his  brother,2  with  the  stipulation  that  he 
should  receive  a  certain  sum,  equal  to  the  excess 
in  value  of  the  property  over  the  amount  of  his 
indebtedness,  and  that  it  was  to  recover  this  money 
that  the  suit  was  brought. 

However  this  may  have  been,  Thomas  Hudson 
seems  to  have  been  living  nine  or  ten  years  after 
his  father's  death,  at  Mortlake  in  Surry,  in  those 
days  a  pretty  little  village,  on  the  Thames,  six 
and  a  half  miles  from  London,  between  Putney 
and  Eichmond.  The  following  entry  occurs  in 
the  Private  Diary  of  Doctor  John  Dee,  the  famous 

iProc.  Ct.  of  Chanc.,  Kg.of  Eliz.,  vol.  II,  page  62. 

~  The  Privileges  of  Gavel-land  belonging  to  the  County  of 
Kent  are  threefold:  1.  The  He^rs  male  share  all  the  lands 
alike.  2.  The  Heir  is  at  15  at  full  age  to  sell  or  alienate.  3. 
Though  the  Father  were  convicted  of  Treason,  yet  the  Son  en- 
joys his  Inheritance  :  Hence  that  Proverb,  the  Father  to  the 
Bough,  and  the  Son  to  the  Plough.  These  three  Privileges, 
granted  and  confirmed  to  them  by  William  the  Conqueror,  are 
denominated  Gavel  kind.  Present  State  of  Great  Britain,  by 
John  Chamberlayne,  Esq.  London,  1748,  p.  15. 


49 


philosopher  of  Mortlake,  with  whom  Thomas  Hud- 
son was  on  intimate  terms :  "  [A.  D.  1564]  June 
20th,  Mr.  Hudson,  hora  septima  ante  meridiem."1 
This  was  one  of  the  many  notes  of  nativities  made 
by  the  Doctor,  who  was  constantly  consulted  pro- 
fessionally as  an  astrologer. 

Doctor  Dee  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  ex- 
tensive acquirements.  He  was  particularly  distin- 
guished for  his  geographical  attainments,  while  his 
opinion,  on  a  variety  of  matters  of  state,  was  fre- 
quently asked  by  Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  and 
Queen  Elizabeth  herself.  He  was  the  cherished 
friend  and  adviser  of  the  principal  navigators  of  his 
time,  and  was  actively  engaged  in  promoting  the 
objects  of  the  Muscovy  or  Russia  Company.2  In- 
deed Hakluyt  has  preserved  "  Certaine  briefe 
addresses  given  by  Master  Dee,  to  Arthur  Pet,  and 
Charles  Jackman,  to  bee  observed  in  their  North- 
easterne  discouerie,  Anno  1580;"3  and  from  his 
own  Diary  we  learn  that  on  the  17th  of  May,  1580, 
he  was  at  the  Company's  House  in  London,  on 


1  Private   Diary  of  Doctor  John  Dee,  Camden  Soc.  Pub., 
1842,  page  2. 

2  For  a  Notice  of  Doctor  Dee  see  Appendix. 

3  Hakluyt,  vol.  I,  p.  437. 


50  . 

business  concerning  the  Cathay  voyage.1  Two 
weeks  later  Pet  an^Jackman..sailed  from  Harwich, 
in  the  Company's  employ,  in  search  of  a  north-east 
passage  to  China  or  Cathay,  taking  with  them  a 
Chart  which  the  Doctor  had  constructed  for  their 
guidance.2 

Frequent  reference  is  made  by  the  Doctor  to 
certain  pecuniary  transactions  between  himself 
and  Thomas  Hudson.  March  12th,  1581,  he  re- 
cords: "  All  reckenings  payd  to  Mr.  Hudson,  £11, 
17s."3  After  his  return  from  the  continent  he 
has  the  following:  "June  28th,  [1590]  I  payd 
Mr.  Hudson  for  all  his  corn,  and  also  for  the  wood 
tyll  May,  receyved  synce  I  cam  home."4  March 
21st,  1591,  he  says:  "Remember  that  on  Passion 
Sunday,  being  the  21st  of  March,  by  our  accownt, 
all  things  was  payd  for  to  Mr.  Thomas  Hudson  for 
wood  and  corne,  abowt  £14,  at  his  howse  when  he 
was  syk  of  the  strangury."5  In  this  connection 
it  is  interesting  to  note  the  entry  for  February 


1  [1580]  "  May  17th,  at  the  Moscovy  howse  for  the  Cathay 
voyage."     Priv.  Diary,  page  7,  Cam.  Soc.  Pub.,  1842. 

2  Side  Note.  Hakluyt,  vol.  I,  p.  437. 

3  Private  Diary,  p.  11. 

4  Priv.  Diary,  p.  34. 

5  Priv.  Diary,  p.  38. 


51 

21st,  1593,  which  refers  to  the  greatest  English 
mathematician  of  that  day:  "I  borrowed  £10.  of 
Mr.  Thomas  Digges l  for  one  whole  yere." 2 

The  extracts  from  the  Diary  which  are  given 
in  the  appendix,3  reveal  the  character  and  stand- 
ing of  the  men  with  whom  Thomas  Hudson,  and 
Dr.    Dee  were  daily  in  the  habit  of   associating. 
When  taken  in  connection  with  the  ensuing  quo- 
tations, they  clearly  indicate  that  the  friendship 
existing  between  these  two,  had  its  origin  in  the 
interest  which  they  mutually  felt  in  the  Muscovy 
or  Eussia  Company.     The  curious  document  from 
which   they  are   taken,   repeatedly  mentions   Sir 
Humphrey  Gilbert,  "Mr.  Secretary"  Sir  Francis 
Walsingham,  Mr.  Hakluyt,  Mr.  Adrian   Gilbert, 
Captain  John  Davis,  Richard  Candish,  and  his  fa- 
mous nephew  Thomas  Candish,  Sir  George  Peck- 
ham,  Sir  John  Gilbert,  and  Sir  "Walter  Ralegh,  as 
members   of    a    circle,    wherein   Thomas  Hudson 
figured  prominently.     We  are  allowed  to  look  in 
upon  the  great  men  of  England,  and  the  next  para- 
graph even  affords  us  a  familiar  view  of  good  Queen 


1  He  was  father  of  Sir  Dudley  Digges  who  was  a  principal 
promoter  of  Henry  Hudson's  last  voyage  in  1610-11. 

2  Priv.  Diary,  p.  43. 
8  See  Appendix. 


52 


Bess  herself:  "Feby.  llth,  [1583]  the  Quene 
lying  at  Eichmond  went  to  Mr.  Secretary  Walsing- 
ham  to  dynner ;  she  coming  by  my  dore l  gra- 
tiously  called  me  to  her,  and  so  I  went  ~by  her  horse 
side  as  far  as  where  Mr.  Hudson  dwelt!'2 

I  have  reserved  perhaps  the  most  interesting 
memoranda,  so  far  as  our  immediate  subject  is  con- 
cerned, until  now. 

"Jan.  23d  [1583],  the  Right  Honorable  Mr. 
Secretary  Walsingham,  cam  to  my  howse,  where 
by  good  lok  he  found  Mr.  Awdrian  Gilbert,  and  so 
talk  was  begonne  of  North-west  Straights  discovery. 
The  Bishop  of  St.  Davyd's  (Mr.  Middleton)  cam 
to  visit  me  with  Mr.  Thomas  Herbert.  The  Lord 


1 "  Dr.  Dee  dwelt  in  a  house  neere  the  water  side,  a  little  west- 
ward from  the  church  at  Mortlake.  The  buildings  which  Sir 
Francis  Crane  erected  for  working  tapestry  hangings,  and  are 
still  (1673)  employed  to  that  use,  were  built  upon  the  ground 
whereon  Dr.  Dee's  laboratory  and  other  roomes  for  that  use 
were  built.  Upon  the  west  side  is  a  square  Court,  and  the  next 
is  the  howse  wherein  Dr.  Dee  dwelt,  now  inhabited  by  one  Mr. 
Selbury,  and  further  west  his  garden.  ****** 
Dr.  Dee  was  wel  beloved  and  respected  of  all  persons  of  quality 
thereabouts,  who  very  often  invited  him  to  their  houses  or  came 
to  his."  MS.  Askm.,  1788,  fol.  149.  in  Cam.  Soc.  Pub.,  1842. 
Notes,  byJ.  0.  Hallowell. 

The  two  extracts  might  enable  one  on  the  spot  acquainted 
with  the  ancient  landmarks,  to  identify  Mr.  Hudson's  resi- 
dence. 

2  Private  Diary,  pp.  18,  19. 


53 

Grey  cam  to  Mr.  Secretary,  and  so  they  went  unto 
Greenwich.  Jan.  24th,  I,  Mr.  Awdrian  Gilbert, 
and  John  Davis  went  by  appointment  to  Mr.  Sec- 
retary to  Mr.  Beale  his  howse?  where  onely  we 
four  were  secret,  and  we  made  Mr.  Secretary 
priuie  of  the  N.  W.  passage,  and  all  charts  and 
rutters  were  agreed  uppon  in  generall.  March  6th, 
I,  and  Mr.  Adrian  Gilbert  and  John  Davis  did 
mete  with  Mr.  Alderman  Barnes,  Mr.  Townson, 
and  Mr.  Yong,  arid  Mr.  Hudson,  abowt  the  N.  W. 
voyage."1 

We  are  here  made  acquainted  with  the  origin 
of  the  famous  voyages  of  John  Davis,  and  sin- 
gularly enough,  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events, 
discover  Thomas  Hudson  consulting  with  that  cele- 
brated navigator  in  reference  to  a  search  for  a 
North-west  passage  to  China  or  Cathay.  We 
shall  hereafter  recognize  the  influence  of  Davis's 
subsequent  explorations  upon  Henry  Hudson,  and 
learn  that  it  was  in  attempting  to  find  a  passage 
to  the  westward  and  northward  twenty-six  years 
after  the  above  project  was  entertained  by  his 
relative  Thomas  Hudson,  that  Henry  Hudson  made 
his  discoveries  of  Delaware  and  New  York.2 


1  Private  Diary  of  Dr.  John  Dee,  pp.  18,  19. 

2  Captain  John  Davis  made  his  three  well  known  voyages  to 
the  North-west  in  1585,  1586,  and  1587. 


54 


I  have  already  referred  to  the  fact  that  a  Cap- 
tain Thomas  Hudson,  of  Limehouse,  in  the  Muscovy 
or  Russia  Company's  employ,  is  frequently  men- 
tioned in  a  very  interesting  account  of  the  6th 
voyage  set  on  foot  by  that  Company  'into  the  parts 
of  Persia  and  Media.'  The  report  of  the  expedi- 
tion as  given  by  Hakluyt  was  "  gathered  out  of 
sundrie  letters  written  by  Christopher  Burrough, 
seruant1  to  the  saide  companie,  and  sent  to  his 
Vncle  Master  William  Burrough"* 

It  appears  that  Arthur  Edwards,  William  Turn- 
bull,  Matthew  Talboys,  and  Peter  Gerard,  Agents 
and  Factors  of  the  above  Corporation,  sailed  from 


It  was  in  the  latter  year  that  sailing  across  the  mouth  of  what 
is  now  called  Hudson's  Strait  he  saw  to  his  great  admiration 
'  the  sea  falling  downe  into  the  gulfe  with  a  mighty  overfall 
and  roaring,  and  with  diver  circular  motions  like  whirlpools, 
in  such  sort  as  forcible  streams  pass  through  the  arches  of 
bridges/  Henry  Hudson  as  we  shall  see  referred  to  this  in  his 
journal  of  his  second  voyage,  as  the  "  furious  over-fall  of  Captain 
Davis." 

1  Hakluyt,  vol.  I,  page  419,  ed.  of  1599. 

2  At  that  period,  officers  whom  we  now  designate  as  Agents, 
Commissioners,    etc.,    were    often    in    a   general   way   termed 
Servants.     Sir  Richard  Clough,    in   his    last   will,  calls    Sir 
Thomas  Gresham  his   '  Master '  and  styles  himself  'servant/ 
In  the  same  document  Sir  Richard  mentiones  his  own   brother 
by  the  latter   designation.     Vide  Burgon's  Life  of  Sir  Thos. 
Gresham,  vol.  I,  page  236. 


55 

Gravesend  on  the  19th  June,  1579,  reached  what 
is  now  Archangel  the  latter  part  of  July,  and 
proceeded  from  thence,  sometimes  by  river,  some- 
times by  land  travel,  to  Astracan,  a  city  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Yolga,  on  the  north-western  shore 
of  the  Caspian  sea;  where  they  arrived  on  the 
16th  of  October,  and  found  'in  good  order  and 
readinesse '  the  ship  commanded  by  '  Thomas  Hud- 
son, of  Limehouse,'  which  the  Company  had  '  pro- 
vided for  the  Persia  voyage.'  Having  dined  by 
invitation  with  the  Chief  Secretary  of  Duke  Pheo- 
dor  Micalouich,  the  Russian  governor  of  Astracan, 
they  were  persuaded  by  him,  in  view  of  the  near 
approach  of  the  icy  season  and  the  unsettled  con- 
dition of  Media  and  Persia,  to  pass  the  winter  at 
Astracan. 

"  The  first  day  of  May  (1580),  in  the  morning, 
having  the  shippe  in  readinesse  to  depart,"  they 
"invited  the  Duke  and  the  principall  Secretary 
Vasili  Pheodorouich  Shelepin,  with  other  of  the 
chiefest  about  the  Duke  to  a  banket  aboord  the 
ship,  where  they  were  interteined  to  their  good 
liking,  and  at  their  departure  was  shot  off  all  the 
ordinance  of  the  ship,  and  about  nine  of  the  clocke 
at  night  the  Same  day  they  weyed  anker,  and 
departed  with  their  ship  from  Astracan."  After 


56 


various  mishaps  and  detentions,  arising  from  the 
shoals  in  the  Volga  and  the  bars  at  its  mouth, 
"  they  bare  off  into  the  "  Caspian  "  Sea  "  on  the  1 7th 
May.  It  is  not  necessary  to  rehearse  the  subse- 
quent adventures  of  the  party,  from  their  de- 
parture in  the  ship  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Thomas  Hudson,  until  their  return  with  him  to  As- 
tracan  in  the  month  of  December  following.  For 
the  particulars  of  their  interesting  voyage  to  Bil- 
dih  and  Derbent,  their  sufferings  from  shipwreck, 
their  narrow  escapes,  their  miraculous  preservation 
from  starvation,  I  refer  you  to  the  pages  of  Hak- 

luyt,  taking  occasion  at  the  same  time  however, 

* 
to  call  your  particular  attention  to  the  courage, 

ability  and  coolness  displayed  by  Captain  Hudson 
at  all  times  of  peculiar  danger.  Indeed,  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say,  that  the  safe  return  of  the  party 
was  in  a  great  measure  owing  to  the  gallant  and 
skillful  conduct  of  their  leader.  Having  spent  a 
second  winter  at  Astracan,  Thomas  Hudson  started 
from  that  city,  with  Wm.  Turnbull,  Matthew 
Talboys  and  others,  in  the  month  of  March,  1581 ; 
and  after  nearly  four  months'  journeying  across 
Russia,  reached  the  shores  of  the  White  Sea,  and 
found  in  the  '  rode  of  St.  Nicholas,'  almost  ready 
to  depart,  certain  Ships  belonging  to  the  Muscovy 


57 

Company.  On  the  26th  of  July,  1581,  Thomas 
Hudson1  sailed  in  the  Thomas  Allen,  one  of  the 
Company's  vessels,  and  reached  England  about 
the  first  of  September. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  Henry  Hudson,  the 
elder,  had  a  son  named  Henry.  Henry  Hudson 
is  mentioned  by  Stow,  as  a  citizen  of  London,  in 
the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
1558-9.  This  was  four  or  five  years  after  the 
death  of  the  elder  Hudson ;  and  the  son  would 
appear  to  have  been,  at  that  time,  a  man  of  influ- 
ence and  standing  in  the  city.  His  name  occurs 
in  a  list,2  of  a  dozen  responsible  persons,  of  that 
date,  who  were  appointed  by  the  Lieutenant  of 
the  Tower,  the  nominal  Keepers,  or  bondsmen,  as 
we  should  style  them,  for  William  Aston,  a  citizen 
of  note,  and  "  free  of  the  Company  of  Haber- 
dashers." The  same  individual  seems  to  have 
been  plaintiff,  in  a  suit  in  the  Court  of  Chancery, 
against  a  certain  Francis  Ringsteed,  concerning 


1  That  Capt.  Thomas  Hudson,  and  Thomas  Hudson,  the 
friend  of  Dr.  John  Dee,  were  not  the  same,  I  am  led  to  believe, 
from  the  entry  in  the  Doctor's  Diary,  of  the  12th  March,  1581, 
viz. :  "  All  reckenings  payd  to  Mr.  Hudson,  ,£11,  17s." 
Which  leads  one  to  think  that  that  Mr.  Hudson  was  then  at 
home. 

2Stow's  Survey  of  London,  ed.  1633,  p.  126. 


58 


some  personal  matters.2  As  late  as  the  year  1572 
I  find  that  Henry  Hudson  was  one  of  the  defend- 
ants in  a  suit  brought  in  the  same  court,  by  Ed- 
ward Stanhope,  who  claimed,  by  purchase,  the 
"farm  in  Gouxhill  called  the  Abbey  Garth,  parcel 
of  the  monastery  of  Thorton,"  in  Lincolnshire.3 
This  is  suggestive,  when  we  recall  the  fact  that 
Burke,  speaks  of  the  elder  Henry  Hudson,  as  "  of 
Stourton,  in  Lincolnshire." 

We  have  seen  that  the  Muscovy  Company  was 
organized  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  dis- 
covery of  a  short  passage  to  India  by  the  north, 
and  that  under  the  guidance  of  Bichard  Chancel- 
lor it  early  succeeded  in  gaining  the  good  will  of 
the  Emperor  of  Russia.  Having  thus  obtained  a 
foothold  in  that  country,  the  Company  sent 
thither  its  Agents  and  Ships  to  develop  a  trade 
which  in  a  few  years  grew  to  be  immensely  valua- 
ble. Before  referring  to  another  Hudson  who  fig- 
ured prominently  in  this  portion  of  the  Company's 
enterprise,  let  me  distinctly  state  that  the  original 
idea  of  a  northern  passage  to  China  was  never 


2  Cal  Proc.  Court  of  Chanc.,  Kg.,  Eliz.  voL  II,  p.  29.     The 
name  is  here  spelled  Henry  Hodgeson. 

3  Cal  Proc.  Court  of  Chanc.,  Rg.  Eliz.,  vol.  Ill,  p.  45.     The 
name  here  assumes  the  form  of  Henry  Hogeson. 


59 

abandoned.  Stephen  Burrough  was  sent  to  prose- 
cute the  search  injjy^-but  returned  after  having 
discovered  '  Image  Cape/  the  north-eastern  ex- 
tremity of  the  island  of  Yaigats  in  70°  29'  N. 
latitude,  and  the  entrance  into  the  White  Sea, 
called  after  him  Burrough's  Strait.  For  several 
years  indeed,  after  this  voyage,  the  Muscovy 
Company  turned  its  attention  principally  to  the 
trade  with  the  interior  of  the  continent  both  in 
Europe  and  in  Asia.  The  expedition  under  Cap- 
tain Thomas  Hudson,  of  Limehouse,  just  described, 
is  an  example  of  this.  The  instructions,  however, 
given  on  the  occasion  of  the  fitting  out  of  two  ex- 
peditions at  intervals  of  twelve  years,  the  first 
under  James  Bassendine,  James  Woodcocke  and 
Richard  Browne  in  1568,1  and  the  second  already 
mentioned  under  Pet  and  Jackman  in  1580,2  are 
sufficient  proofs  that  no  opportunities  nor  means 
were  neglected  to  obtain  information,  with  a  view 
to  the  eventual  realization  of  the  scheme  which 
was  the  principal  object  in  the  original  formation 
of  the  Company. 


1  Hakluyt,  vol.  I,  pp.  382,383,  ed.  1599.     The  date   is  here 
misprinted  1588.      See  also  Dr.  Beke's  learned  Introduction  to 
De.  Veer's  Voyages.     Hak.  Soc   Pub.,  1853. 

2  Hakluyt,  vol.  I,  pp.  433,  434,  435. 


60 

One  other  important  member  of  the  Hudson 
family,  himself  a  zealous  upholder  of  the  interests 
of  the  Muscovy  Company,  remains  to  be  noticed, 
before  we  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the  character 
and  purposes  of  Henry  Hudson,  the  discoverer. 

The  earliest  allusion  to  ChristopJier  Hudson  is 
to  be  found  in  "the  Letter  of  M.  George  Killing- 
worth,  the  Companies  first  Agent  in  Muscouie, 
touching  their  enterteinement  in  their  second  voy- 
age, Anno  1555.  the  27,  of  November  in  Mosco." 
M.  Killingworth  writes  from  that  city  as  fol- 
lows:  "And  the  28,  day  of  September  (1555)  we 
did  determine  with  ourselues  that  it  was  good  for 
M.  Gray,  Arthur  Edwards,  Thomas  Hautory, 
Christopher  Hudson,  John  Segewicke,  Kichard 
Johnson,  and  Richard  Judde,  to  tarie  at  Vologda, 
and  M.  Chancelor,1  Henry  Lane,  Edward  Prise, 
Robert  Best,  and  I  should  goe  to  Mosco."2  In 
closing  the  letter  he  says:  "And  to  certifie  you 
of  the  weather  here,  men  say  that  these  hundred 
yeres  was  never  sowarme  weather  in  this  countrey 
at  this  time  of  the  yere.  But  as  yesternight  wee 
received  a  letter  from  ChristopJier  Hudson  from  a 


1  The  word  Master  was  then  used,  instead  of  the  more  modern 
Mister.     The  letter  M.  was  the  usual  abbreviation. 

2  Hakluyt,  vol.  IT,  p.  263. 


61 

Citie  called  Yeraslaue,  who  is  comming  hither 
with  certaine  of  our  wares,  but  the  winter  did  de- 
ceive him,  so  that  he  was  faine  to  tarie  by  the 
way :  and  he  wrote  that  the  Emperours  present 
was  deliuered  to  a  gentleman  at  Vologda,  and  the 
sled  did  overthrow  and  the  butte  of  hollocke1  was 
lost,  which  made  us  all  very  sory."2 

There  exists,  however,  an  epistle  written  by 
Christopher  Hudson  in  1601,  which  gives  a  glimpse 
of  his  whereabouts  the  year  previous  to  George 
Killingworth's  letter,  so  that  we  may  commence 
our  acquaintance  with  him  from  the  date  which 
he  himself  names:  —  "in  the  yeare  1554,  I  came 
from  Dansyck  by  land,  through  all  the  maryne 
townes  [of  Germany]  ."3 

In  1559  he  would  seem  to  have  been  residing 
at  Moscow.  The  following  paragraph  occurs  in  a 
communication  addressed  from  that  city  on  the 
18th  of  September,  1559,  by  "  Master  Anthonie 
Jenkinson,  vpon  his  returne  from  Boghar,  to  the 
Worshipful  Master  Henrie  Lane,  Agent  for  the 
Moscouie  Companie,  resident  in  Vologda  : "  *  *  * 


1  A  sort  of  sweet  wine. 

2  Hakluyt,  vol.  I,  p.  265. 

8  Egerton  Papers,  Camden    Society  Publications,    London, 
1840,  p.  338. 

9 


62 

"As  touching  the  Companies  affaires  heere,  I  referre 
you  to  Christopher  Hudson's  letters,  for  that  I  am 
but  newly  arriued."1 

Hakluyt  has  preserved  also :  "  A  letter  of  the 
Moscouie  Companie  to  their  Agents  in  Russia, 
Master  Henrie  Lane,  Christopher  Hudson,  and 
Thomas  Glouer,2  sent  in  their  seuenth  voyage  to 
Saint  Nicholas  with  three  ships,  the  Swallowe,  the 
Philip  and  Marie,  and  the  Jesus,  the  fifth  of  May, 
1560."  As  it  speaks  of  the  internal  affairs  of  the 
great  corporation,  and  furnishes  several  facts 
about  Christopher  Hudson,  no  apology  is  offered 
for  introducing  the  following  quotations:  "We 
hope  in  your  next  letters  to  heare  good  newes  of 
the  proceedings  of  Master  Antonie  Jenkinson.3 


1  Hakluyt,  vol.  I,  page  305. 

^Thomas  Glover  went  to  Kussia  as  a  servant  of  the  Mus- 
covy Company;  but  subsequently  joined  with  others  in  carry- 
ing on  an  independent  trade.  As  early  as  1567,  Queen 
Elizabeth  complained  to  the  Czar  of  this  conduct  of  Glover 
and  his  associates,  and  that  they  had  married  Polish  wives.  Glo- 
ver was  banished  from  Russia  in  1573.  See  Namel,  pp.  186  to 
221;  Bond's  Notes  to  Horsey's  Travels. 

3  Anthony  Jenkinson  was  afterwards  Ambassador  from 
Queen  Elizabeth  to  the  Emperor  of  Russia  from  1571  to  1572. 
Hakluyt,  vol.  I,  p.  402.  A  very  interesting  resume  of  his 
labors  as  the  agent  of  the  company,  and  as  a  sort  of  envoy  to 
the  Czar  previous  to  the  year  1565,  is  to  be  found  in  Mr. 
Edwin  A.  Bond's  Introduction  to  the  Hak.  Soc.  Pub.  for  1856, 
pp.  iii,  iv,  v. 


63 

We  perceive  by  his  letters  that  Astracan  is  not  so 
good  a  Mart  towne  as  the  same  has  gone  of  it : 
and  maruell  much  that  round  pewter  should  be  so 
good,  and  good  chepe  there,  and  from  whence  it 
should  come.  And  whereas  you  write  that  you 
wil  come  for  England  in  our  next  shippes,  we 
would  gladly  have  you  to  remaine  there  untill  the 
next  yere  following.,  for  the  better  instruction  of 
our  servants  there  ^  who  have  not  had  so  long 
time  of  continuance  for  the  language,  and  know- 
ledge of  the  people,  countrey  and  wares  as  you 
have  had.  Nevertheless  if  you  will  needs  come 
away,  we  have  no  doubt,  but  that  you  will  have 
good  order  with  our  servants  there,  namely  with 
Christopher  Hodson^  and  Thomas  Glover,  whom 
we  appoint  to  remaine  there  as  agents  in  your 
roome,  till  further  order  bee  taken :  not  doubting 
but  that  they  will  use  themselves  so  discreetly 
and  wisely  in  all  their  doings,  as  shall  be  to  the 
worship  and  benefite  of  this  Company.  And  as 
we  have  a  good  hope  in  them  that  they  will  be 


Mr.  Bond,  in  his  notes  to  The  Travels  of  Sir  Jerome  Horsey, 
says  :  "  It  is  believed  that  Anthony  Jenkinson  was,  in  the  year 
1567,  intrusted  by  Ivan  with  secret  orders  to  negociate  a  mar- 
riage with  Queen  Elizabeth.  See  Hamel,  p.  177.  et  scq." 

1  Cliris.  Hodson  and  Thos.  Glouer,  appointed  Agents,  1560. 
This  is  Hakluyt's  side  note,  vol.  I,  page  307. 


64 

carefull,  diligent  and  true  in  all  their  doings :  So 
have  we  no  lesse  hope  in  all  the  reste  of  our  ser- 
vants there,  that  they  will  bee  not  onely  obedient 
to  them  (considering  what  roome  they  be  in)  but 
also  will  be  carefull,  paineful,  diligent,  and  true 
every  one  in  his  roome  and  place  for  the  benefite 
and  profite  of  the  Company :  That  hereafter  in 
the  absence  of  others  they  may  be  called  and 
placed  in  the  like  roome  therefor  elsewhere.  And 
if  you  find  any  to  be  disobedient  and  stubborne, 
and  will  not  be  ruled ;  wee  will  you  should  send 
him  home  in  our  shipps :  who  shall  find  such 
small  favour  and  friendships  during  the  time  that 
he  hath  to  serve,  as  by  his  disobedience  and  evil 
service  hee  hath  deserved.  And  whereas  Christo- 
pher Hodson  hath  written  to  come  home,  as  partly  he 
he  hath  good  cause,  considering  the  death  of  his 
father  and  mother,  yet  in  regard  that  Sir  George 
Barne  and  the  Ladie  his  wife,  were  his  special 
friends  in  his  absence,  we  doubt  not  but  that  he 
wil  remain  in  the  rooine,  which  we  have  appointed 
him,  if  you  doe  not  tarie  and  remaine  there,  till 
farther  order  be  taken:  and  for  his  seruice  and 


1  Sir  George  Barne  or  Barns.  John  Barns  was  one  of  the 
crew  in  Henry  Hudson's  second  voyage  forty-eight  years  later, 
viz  :  in  1608.  Vide  Purchas,  III,  574. 


65 

paines  hee  shall  be  considered,  as  reason  is,  as 
friendly  as  if  his  friends  were  living.  Thus  we 
trust  you  will  take  such  order  the  one  to  remaine 
at  the  Mosco,  and  the  other  at  Colmogro,  or  else- 
where, as  most  neede  is.  Thomas  Alcocke  is  de- 
sirous to  be  in  the  Mosco:  neverthelesse  you  shall 
find  him  reasonable  to  serue  where  he  may  doe 
most  good."1 

We  have  here  another  illustration  of  the  different 
modes  of  spelling  the  same  name  in  the  same  doc- 
ument. The  individual  who  is  addressed  as  Chris- 
topher Hudson  in  the  heading  of  the  letter,  is  de- 
signated in  the  body  of  the  same  communication, 
and  in  Hakluyt's  marginal  note,  as  Christopher 
Hodson.  Our  researches  will  presently  acquaint 
us  with  still  further  changes  and  irregularities  in 
the  spelling  of  this  identical  man's  name. 

It  would  appear  from  the  citations  just  given 
that  Christopher  Hudson,  who  had  now  been  for 
several  years  confidentially  employed  in  Russia, 
was  appointed  in  1560  an  agent  and  representative 
of  the  Muscovy  Company.2  The  death  of  his 


1  Hakluyt  I,  page  305. 

2  For  an  account  of  his   duties,  powers  and  authority,  see 
the  '  commission '  given  by  the   Muscovy  Company  to   their 
agents  resident  in  Russia.     Hakluyt  I,  249. 


66 

father  and  mother  is  mentioned  as  the  cause  of  his 
having  written  for  leave  to  return  home  to  England, 
but  he  is  reminded  that  "  Sir  George  Barne  and 
the  Ladie  his  wife,  were  his  special  friends  in  his 
absence,"  and  he  is  assured  that  his  services  will  be 
as  favorably  regarded  as  though  his  friends  were 
still  living.  I  was  at  first  inclined  to  believe  that 
he  was  the  son  of  Henry  Hudson,  the  founder  of 
the  Muscovy  Company,  who  died  five  years  pre- 
vious to  the  date  of  this  letter,  but  as  the  death  of 
his  mother  is  also  spoken  of,  it  could  not  be  the  case, 
since  Henry  Hudson's  wife  Barbara,  survived  her 
first  husband,  and  was  living  in  1568  as  the  widow 
of  Sir  Richard  Champion. 

It  is  probable  that  Christopher  Hudson  was  the 
son  of  Sir  Christopher  Hudson,  who  was  himself 
the  son,  or  more  probably  the  brother  of  the  first 
Henry  Hudson.  My  reasons  for  this  supposition 
will  be  apparent  from  what  follows. 

In  the  Calendars  of  Chancery  Proceedings, 
Reign  of  Elizabeth,  Volume  Second,  page  fifty-four, 
it  is  recorded  that  Christopher  Hoddesdon,  Esqre, 
was  plaintiff  in  a  suit  to  recover  lands  in  the  Manor 
of  Leighton  alias  Leighton  Bussard  held  by  him 
from  the  Dean  and  Canons  of  Windsor,  Bedford 
county.  In  the  third  volume,  page  two  hundred 


67 

and  sixty-seven  of  the  same  work.  Sir  Christopher 
Hoddesdon,  Knight,  and  Christopher  Hoddesdon  are 
defendants  in  a  suit  brought  by  Sir  Henry  Wallop 
and  Dame  Elizabeth  his  wife,  daughter  of  Robert 
Corbett,  Esqre,  deceased,  to  establish  the  claim  by 
descent  of  the  plaintiff  Elizabeth  to  "two  messuages 
and  divers  lands  holden  of  the  manor  of  Laighton 
Bussarde  alias  Bude  serte  (Beau  desert) ,  Bedford 
county,  late  the  estate  of  the  said  Robert  Corbett, 
of  which  manor  the  dean  and  canons  of  St.  George's 
Chapel,  Windsor,  are  seized  in  fee,  and  the  defend- 
ants Hoddesdon  claim  under  a  lease  from  them." 

I  have  doubtless  prepared  you  against  surprise, 
yet  I  must  own  that  I  was  myself  astonished  to  find 
Christopher  Hudson,  introduced  as  '  Christopher 
Hodderde,  Defendant,'  in  a  suit  brought  by  Adulph 
Carie  Esq.,  "  to  compel  admission  to  sundry  mes- 
suages and  lands  in  the  town  and  fields  of  Leigh- 
ton  Bussard,  late  the  estate  of  Robert  Corbett  Esq., 
and  which  upon  his  death  descended  to  Anne  the 
wife  of  the  Plaintiff,  and  Elizabeth  the  wife  of 
Henry  Wallop,  Esqre,  his  daughters  and  coheirs; 
the  defendant  being  lord  of  the  said  Manor."1 
This  however  merely  furnishes  additional  proof  of 

1  Calendars  of  Proceedings  in  Chancery,  Reign  of  Elizabeth, 
vol.  I,  p.  161. 


68 

the  infinite  difficulty  experienced  in  tracing  individ- 
uals whose  identity  is  so  often  hidden  under  the 
disguise  of  a  misspelled  name.1 

From  the  manner  in  which  they  are  associated 
in  at  least  one  suit,  it  would  be  natural  to  suppose 
that  Sir  Christopher  Hudson,  of  Leighton  Bus- 
sarde,  and  Christopher  Hudson,  Agent  of  the  Mus- 
covy Company,  were  father  and  son.  There  are 
also  grounds  for  believing  that  they  both  belonged 
to  the  family  of  Henry  Hudson,  the  elder.  For 
we  are  told  by  R.  Sims,  in  his  Index  to  Heraldic 
Visitations,  that  the  Hudsons  of  Leighton  Bussarde, 
Bedfordshire,  were  from  Herts,  and  that  the  Hud- 


1 1  have  preserved  the  extract  which  follows  without  any 
more  definite  thought  than  that,  perhaps,  the  apparent  relation- 
ship between  the  fact  in  the  text  and  the  statement  given  below, 
may  contribute  a  ray  of  light  on  the  subject,  and  enable  some 
one  to  explore  and  explain  satisfactorily  the  connection,  if  any 
there  be,  between  the  two  :  — 

"  In  the  Deanery  of  Windsore  succeeded  Dr.  Giles  Tomson  a 
little  before  Qu.  Elizabeth's  death,  and  in  the  mastership  of 
the  Hospital  of  St.  Cross  (which  was  designed  by  the  Queen 
for  George  Brook,  brother  to  Henry  Lord  Cobhain),  K.  James 
at  his  first  entry  into  England,  gave  it  to  Mr.  James  Hudson, 
who  had  been  his  Agent  there  during  part  of  the  Reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth.  But  Hudson  being  a  Lay-man  therefore  not 
found  capable  of  it,  Sir  Tho.  Lake,  for  some  reward  given  to 
him  to  quit  his  interest  therein,  prevailed  with  the  King  to 
give  it  to  his  brother  Arthur  Lake."  Wood's  Athense  Oxonienses, 
I,  735,  edition  of  1691. 


69 

sons  of  London,  and  of  Kent,  were  also  from  Herts. 
I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  spot  where  the  seve- 
ral branches  originated,  and  from  whence  they 
derived  the  family  name,  was  Hoddesdon,  a  town 
in  Hertfordshire,  41  miles  south-east  from  Hertford, 
and  17  miles  north  by  east  from  London,  on  the 
road  to  Ware.  My  theory  is  strengthened  by  the 
fact  that  the  name  of  this  place  is  supposed  to 
have  been  derived  from  its  having  been  the  resi- 
dence of  Hodo,  or  Oddo,  a  Danish  chief,  or  from  a 
tumulus  or  barrow,  raised  here  to  his  memory.1 
This  view  is  also  confirmed  by  Camden's  derivation 
ef  Hodson  from  Hod  or  Oddo,  to  which  I  have 
already  called  your  attention.2  The  Thatched 
House  at  Hoddesdon  is  immortalized  by  "  honest 
Izaak  "  in  the  opening  dialogue  of  his  "  Complete 
Angler."3 

1  Lewis's  Topog.  Diet,  of  England,  II,  London,  1831. 
~  Caniden's  Remaines,  ed.  1637,  p.  133. 

3  Piscator. — "  I  have  stretched  my  legs  up  Totnam-hill  to 
overtake  you,  hoping  your  business  may  occasion  you  towards 
Ware,  whither  I  am  going  this  fine  fresh  May  morning/'  Ven- 
ator.— "  Sir,  I  shall  almost  answer  your  hopes ;  for  my  purpose 
is  to  drink  my  morning's  draught  at  the  Thatched-house  in 
Hodsden."  The  town  is  supplied  with  water  from  a  conduit  in 
the  market  place,  erected  by  Sir  Marmaduke  Rawdon,  from 
whose  life  the  following  paragraph  is  taken  :  "  From  thence 
they  went  3  miles  farther  to  Hodsden,  the  place  of  Mr.  Eaw- 
10 


70 

The  references  of  Mr.  Sims  to  the  Pedigrees  and 
Arms  of  the  several  families  of  Hudson,  to  be 
found  in  the  Harleian  Collection  in  the  British 
Museum l  are,  in  this  connection,  very  valuable, 
and  the  manuscripts  themselves  would,  I  have  no 
doubt,  throw  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  whole  ques- 
tion under  discussion. 

Additional  proof  of  the  family  connection  ex- 
isting between  the  Hudsons  of  Leighton  Bussarde, 
Bedford  county,  and  the  family  of  Henry  Hudson, 
founder  of  the  Muscovy  Company,  is  to  be  drawn 
from  the  fact  that  John  Hudson,  son  of  the  latter 
person,  whom  we  have  already  seen  was  settled 
in  Kent  county,  was  also  the  owner  of  leased 
lands  in  the  manor  of  Melchborne,  in  the  Parish 
of  Ravensden,  in  the  same  county  of  Bedford.? 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  George  Barne,  al- 
derman of  London,  was  also  lord  of  the  above 
manor  of  Leighton  Bussarde,  Bedfordshire,  in 


don's  aboode,  a  faire  market  towne  which  formerly  did  belong  to 
Henry  Bourchier,  Earle  of  Essex,  who  had  nere  unto  itt  a  faire 
howse."  Jesse's  Izaak  Walton,  Bohn,  London,  1856,  pp.  43, 
44.  Life  of  Marmaduke  Rawdon,  of  York,  with  a  valuable 
introduction  and  notes  by  Robert  Davies  Esq.,  F.  S.  A.  Cam- 
den  Soc.  Pub.,  London,  1863. 

1  Sims's  Index  to  Heraldic  Visitations,  London,  1849. 

2  Cal.  Proc.  Ot.  Chanc.,  Rg.  of  Eliz.,  vol.  II,  p.  38. 


71 

1580.1  This  is  the  more  noticeable,  as  he  was 
the  son  of  the  Sir  George  Barnes  and  the  lady  his 
wife,  who  were  mentioned  in  the  Muscovy  Com- 
pany's Letter  as  having  been  the  warm  friends  of 
Christopher  Hudson,  and  it  would  seem  to  indi- 
cate a  family  relationship.2 

This  family  of  Barn,  Barne,  Barns  or  Barnes, 
for  the  name  is  spelled  in  each  of  these  several 
ways,  was  as  thoroughly  identified  with  the  Mus- 
covy Company  as  was  the  Hudson  family. 

The  Sir  George  Barnes  mentioned  by  Hakluyt, 
was  the  son  of  George  Barne  or  Barnes,  citizen 
and  haberdasher  of  London.  He  was  sheriff  of 
London  in  1545-6,  and  lord  mayor  1552-3.3  "  He 
dwelled  in  Bartholomew  Lane,  where  Sir  William 
Capell  once  dwelled,  and  now  [1605]  Mr.  Derham. 


i  Col.  Chanc.  Proc.,  Eg.  of  Eliz.,  I,  p.  5.  The  present  town 
of  Leighton  Buzzard  is  42  miles  N.  W.  from  London. 

-  Ex.  Hoddeson,  Esq.,  is  mentioned  by  Fuller  as  having 
been  resident  at  Westning,  county  of  Bedfordshire,  and  sheriff 
of  that  county  in  the  33d  year  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
A.D.  1591. 

Ex.  is  probably  an  abbreviation  for  Christopher.  This  would 
suggest  the  belief  that  it  was  the  same  Christopher  Hudson 
who  was  so  prominently  connected  with  the  Muscovy  Com- 
pany. 

3Stow1s  English   Cliron.,  Abridged  ed.,  1618,  p.  255. 


72 

His  Arms,  Argent,  on  a  chevron  wavy  azure, 
between  three  barnacles  proper,  three  trefoils  slipp- 
ed of  the  first,  were  taken  downe  after  his  death 
by  his  sonne  Sir  George  Barnes,  and  these  sett 
upp  in  stede  thereof;  Azure,  three  leopards'  heads 
argent."1  He  was  one  of  the  four  Consuls  men- 
tioned in  the  charter  given  by  Queen  Mary  to  the 
Muscovy  Company  in  1555,  and  was  one  of  the 
most  influential  and  active  members  of  that  asso- 
ciation.2 Stow 3  relates  this  incident^  in  his  life  : 
"  King  Edward  kept  his  Christmas  with  open 
household  at  Greenewich,  George  Ferrers,  Gentle- 
man being  Lord  of  merry  disports  all  the  YII  daies, 
who  so  pleasantly  and  wisely  behaved  himselfe, 
that  the  King  had  great  delight  in  his  pastimes. 

"  On  the  fourth  of  January  [1553]  the  saide 
Lord  of  merry  disports  came  by  water  to  the 
Tower,  where  hee  entred,  and  after  rode  through 
Tower  streets,  where  he  was  met  and  received  by 
'Sergeant  Yaus,  Lord  of  misrule  to  master  John 


1  Stow,  Mr.    Nichols's  Notes    to   Machyn's  Diary,    Camden 
Soc.  Pub.,  1848,  p.  363. 

2  Hakluyt,  vol.  I,  p.  268. 

3  The  Abridgment  of   the  English  Chronicle,  First  collected 
By  Mr.  John  Stow.     By  Edmond  Howes,  London,  1618,   p. 
257. 


73 

Mainard  one  of  the  shrives  of  London,  and  so  con- 
ducted thorrow  the  Cittie  with  a  great  company 
of  young  Lords  and  Gentlemen,  to  the  house  of 
Sir  George  Barne  Lord  Maior,  where  hee  with  the 
chiefe  of  his  company  dined,  and  at  his  departure 
the  Lord  Maior  gave  him  a  standing  cuppe  with 
a  cover,  silver  and  gilt,  of  the  value  5.  pound ; 
the  residue  of  his  Gentlemen  and  servants  dined 
at  other  Aldermens  houses,  and  with  the  shrives." 

In  this  same  year,  1553,  Sir  George  Barnes  dis- 
tinguished himself  very  prominently  among 
those  who  succeeded  in  inducing  Edward  VI  to 
donate  the  palace  of  Bridewell  to  the  city  of  Lon- 
don for  charitable  purposes.  The  ceremonies 
attending  this  event  were  quaintly  but  faithfully 
commemorated  by  Hans  Holbein,  who  was  present 
and  beheld  the  scene  from  a  favorable  position. 

The  following  account  of  the  picture  which  he 
painted  in  honor  of  this  particular  occasion,  is 
taken  from  the  Reverend  James  Granger's  Bio- 
graphical History  of  England,1  which  was  published 
in  London  in  1769,  and  dedicated  to  the  Hon. 
Horace  Walpole:  "Edward  YI,  giving  the  charter 
of  Bridewell  to  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  Sir 


i  Vol.  I,  pp.  91,  92. 


74 

George  Barnes,  Knt.,  &c.  On  the  right  of  the 
throne  is  the  Lord  Chancellor,  Tho.  Goodrick 
Bishop  of  Ely,  standing ;  on  the  left  is  Sir  Robert 
Bowes,  Master  of  the  Rolls.  The  portrait  with 
the  collar  of  the  Garter,  is  William  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke ; l  behind  whom  is  Ham  Holbein  the  painter. 
—  The  two  persons  kneeling  behind  the  lord  mayor, 
are  William  Gerrard  and  John  Maynard,  Alder- 
men, and  then  Sheriffs  of  London :  their  names 
are  omitted  in  the  inscription  of  the  print.  Bride- 
well was  formerly  the  palace  of  King  John.  It 
was  rebuilt  by  Henry  VIII  in  1552.  This  historical 
piece  which  is  in  a  large  sheet,  was  engraved  by 
Vertue,  after  the  original  by  Holbein,  in  the  Hall 
of  Bridewell."2 


1  Named  in  Muscovy  Company's  Charter. 

2  Bryan  in  his  Dictionary  of  Painters  and  Engravers,  speaks 
of  a  very  fine  engraving  of  Sir  George  Barnes,  Lord  Mayor  of 
London,  by  Charles   Hall,  an   English  artist,  born  about  the 
year  1720,  who  also  engraved  a  portrait  of  the  Thomas  Good- 
rick,  Bishop  of  Ely,  above  referred  to.     Bryan  says,  Hall  "was 
brought  up  a  letter  engraver,   but  he  soon  aspired  to  a  more 
respectable  branch  of  the  art;  and  he  was  much  employed  in 
engraving  portraits,  coins,  medals,  and  other  antiquities.     His 
portraits  are  his  best  works ;  and  independent  of  the  merit  of 
their  execution,  they  are  faithful  representations  of  the  origin- 
als from  which  they  are  taken."     Hall   died  in  London,   in 
1783. 


75 

A  very  fine  copy,  reduced  in  size,  from  Yertue's 
print,  may  be  seen  in  Dr.  Trollope's  History  of 
Christ's  Hospital.  The  same  work  contains  "  the 
noble  eulogium  bestowed  by  good  Bishop  Ridley 
upon  Sir  George  Barnes  *  *  * 
extracted  from  the  farewell  letter,  addressed  by 
that  pious  prelate  to  his  relations  and  friends,  and 
all  his  faithful  countrymen,  shortly  before  his 
martyrdom."1 

"  And  thou,  0  Sir  George  Barnes,  thou  wast,  in 
thy  yeare,  not  only  a  furtherer  and  continuer  of 
that  which  before  thee  by  thy  predecessor  was 
well  begun,  but  also  thou  didst  labour  so  to  have 
perfected  the  work,  that  it  should  have  been  an 
absolute  thing,  and  a  perfect  spectacle  of  true 
charity  and  Godliness  unto  all  Christendom. 
Thine  endevour  was  to  have  set  up  a  House  of 
Occupations,  both  that  all  kind  of  poverty,  being 
able  to  work,  should  not  have  lacked,  whereupon 
profitably  they  might  have  been  occupied  to  their 
own  relief,  and  to  the  profit  and  commodity  of  the 
commonwealth  of  the  City;  and  also  to  have  re- 
tired thither  the  poor  babes  brought  up  in  the 
Hospitals,  when  they  had  come  to  a  certain  Age 

1  Trollope's  Hist,  of  Christ's  Hospital.  Win.  Pickering, 
London,  1834,  pp.  45,  46,  47. 


T6 

and  Strength;  and,  also,  all  those  which,  in  the 
Hospitals  aforesaid,  haue  been  cured  of  their 
diseases.  And  to  haue  brought  this  to  pass,  thou 
obtainedst  (not  without  great  diligence  and  labour, 
both  of  thee  and  thy  brethren)  of  that  Godly 
King,  Edward,  that  Christian  and  peerless  Prince, 
the  princely  palace  of  Bridewel,  and  what  other 
things  to  the  performance  of  the  same,  and  under 
what  condition  it  is  not  unknown.  That  this 
thine  endevour  hath  not  had  like  success  the  fault 
is  not  in  thee,  but  in  the  condition  and  state  of 
the  Time."1 

Sir  George  Barnes  died  on  the  8th  of  February, 
1558,2  and  was  buried  in  the  church  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew the  Little.3  He  "  gave  a  Windmill  in 
Finsbury  fielde  to  the  Haberdashers  of  London, 
the  profits  rising  thereof  to  bee  distributed  to  the 


1  Strype's  Stow,  p.  158.     Quoted  by  Dr.  Trollope. 

2  Machyn's  Diary,  p.  166. 

3U  St.  Bartholomew- Exchange  or  Little,  situate  at  the  end 
of  Bartholomew's  Lane.  *  *  *  Here  is  no  Table 
of  Benefactors,  nor  Monuments  since  the  Fire,  which  consumed 
and  destroyed  all  that  were  in  it  before ;  yet  because  Mr.  Stow 
hath  preserved  the  Memory  of  them,  we  shall  recite  them  for 
others  Example,  viz.  '*  Sir  George  Barne, 

Mayor  in  1552.     Mag,  Brit.,  vol.  Ill,  p.  102. 


I  / 


pore  alines  people  of  the  same  company."1  Ma- 
chyn  has  preserved  this  account  of  his  funeral: 

"The  xxiiii  day  of  Feybruary  [1558]  was 
[buried]  Ser  George  Barnes  knyght,  late  ma  [yor] 
and  haberdasser,  and  the  cheyff  marchand  of  Mus- 
kovea,  and  had  the  penon  of  Mu[scovy]  armes  borne 
at  ys  berehyng ;  and  the  [mayor]  and  the  swerd 
bear  had  blake  gownes  and  a  ....  in  blake,  and 
a  iijxx  pore  men  in  blake  [gowns]  and  had  a  stan- 
dard and  v  penons  of  armes,  and  cote  and  elmett, 
sword,  targe  tt,  and  a  goodly  hers  of  '  wax'  and  ij 
grett  branchys  of  whytt  wax,  iiij  dosen  torchys, 
and  viij  dosen  pensels,  and  ix  dosen  skochyons ; 
and  doctur  Chadsay  mad  the  sermon  on  the  morow, 
and  after  a  grett  dener.  Master  Clarenshus  and 
Lanckostur  the  haroldes  (conducted  the  cere- 
mony)."2 

I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain  the  maiden  name 
of  Sir  George  Barnes's  widow.  From  the  intimacy 
existing  between  the  families,  and  the  fact  that 
her  son  was  afterwards  the  possessor  of  the  manor 
of  Leighton  Bussarde,  Bedfordshire,  of  which  Sir 
Christopher  Hudson  had  previously  been  the  lord, 


i  Stow,  Abrd.  Ed.,  1618,  p.  255. 

-Machyrt's  Diary,  page  166. 
11 


78 

it  is  highly  probable  that  she  was  a  Hudson. 
Burke  merely  says  that  " by  his  wife  Alice"  Sir 
George  Barne  the  elder,  "had,  with  two  dans. 
Anne,m.  1st  to  Alexander  Carlyell  Esqre,  and  2ndly 
to  Sir  Francis  Walsingham;  and  Elizabeth,  m.  to 
Sir  John  Rivers  Knt,  two  sons,  George,  his  heir, 
and  John,  w^ho  left  two  daughters,  his  coheirs." x  *  * 

The  letter  of  the  Muscovy  Company  to  Chris- 
topher Hudson  which  refers  to  lady  Barnes,  was 
written  in  May,  1560,  and  she  had  died  in  June  of 
the  previous  year  as  will  1^  seen  below. 

"  The  ij  day  of  Juin  was  bered  at  lytyll  Sant 
Baythelmewes  my  lade  Barnes,  the  wyff  of  Ser 
George  Barnes,  Knyght,  and  late  mare  of  London ; 
and  she  gayff  to  pore  men  and  powre  women  good 
rosett  gownes  a  (blank],  and  she  gayffe  to  the  powre 
men  and  women  of  Calles  (blank]  a  pesse,  and  she 
gayff  a  C.  blake  gownes  and  cottes;  and  then  she 
had  penon  of  armes,  and  master  Clarenshux  kyng 
of  armes,  and  ther  was  a  XX  clarkes  syngyng  afor 
her  to  the  chyrche  with  blake  and  armes ;  and 
after  master  Home  mad  a  sermon,  and  after  the 
clarkes  song  Te  Deum  laudamus  in  Englys,  and 
after  bered  with  a  songe,  and  a-for  songe  the  Englys 


iBurke's  Diet  Landed  Gentry,  vol.  I,  p.  55,  London,  1848. 


79 

pressessyon,  and  after  to  the  place  to  dener;  Ser 
William  Garrett1  cheyff  morner,  and  master  Altham 
and  Master  Chamburlayn,2  and  her  sunes  and  doy- 
thurs;  ther  was  a  noble  dener."3 

Sir  George  Barnes  2d  was  also  free  of  the  Haber- 
dashers Company,  and  was  Lord  Mayor  in  1586-7. 
"  He  dwelled  in  Lombard  Strete,  over  against  the 
George,  in  the  house  which  was  Sir  William  Ches- 
ters,  and  is  buried  in  St.  Edmund's  church  hard  by."4 
He  bore  the  coat  of  leopard's  heads  quartered  with 
Argent,  a  chevron  azure  between  three  blackbirds.5 
Like  his  father  he  was  an  exceedingly  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Muscovy  Company.  We  have  seen  in 
another  place  that  he  was  one  of  the  leaders  of 


1  Sir  William  Garrard,  haberdasher,  Lord  Mayor,  1555. 
a  Alderman  Richard  Chamberlaiia^  chosen  Sheriff  in  1562. 

"  Rychard  Chamberlen,  ironmonger,  alderman  and  late  shreve 
of  London,  dyed  on  Tuesday  the  xixth  of  November,  1566,  in 
A°  9°  Elizabeth  Regine,  at  his  howse  in  the  Parish  of  St. 
Olyffe,  in  the  Old  Jewry,  and  was  beryed  on  Monday,  25  No- 
vember, in  the  Parish  church  there:"  for  an  act  of  his  wife  and 
children,  vide  note  p.  391,  Machyris  Diary. 

*Machyn's  Diary,  pp.  199,  200. 

4  "  Church  of  St.  Edmund  the  King''  was  burned  down  in 
1666,  and  rebuilt  in  1690.     "  It  formerly  contained,"  says  Mr. 
Stow,  "  a  monument  to  Sir  George  Barne  (2d),  Lord  Mayor  of 
London  in  1586."     Mag.  Brit.,  vol.  Ill,  p.  113. 

4 

5  Vide  Mr.  Nichol's  note      Machyn's  Diary,  p.  363. 


80 

this  corporation,  who  were  mentioned  by  Doctor 
John  Dee,  as  being  present  March  6th,  1583,  at 
the  important  consultation  about  the  North-west 
passage,  which  resulted  in  the  remarkable  voyages 
of  John  Davis,  the  forerunners  of  Henry  Hudson's 
explorations. 

Sir  Jerome  Horsey  in  his  Travels  in  Russia,  fre- 
quently refers  to  Sir  George  Barnes  2d,  and  his 
brother-in-law  Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  as  'my 
good  frends.'1  On  his  arrival  in  England  in  1585, 
he  writes  :2  u  I  was  waell  howsed  in  London,  wael 
provided  and  atended  one,  much  respected,  feasted 
and  enterteyned  by  the  Company  of  Muscoma,  Sir 
Rowland  Heyward,  Sir  George  Barns,  Mr.  customer 
Smythe,  and  of  many  other  aldermen  and  grave 
merchants." 3 

Before  his  departure  he  says,  "the  company 
tradinge  [to]  Muscovia  gave  me  good  enterteynment 


1  Horsey' s  Travels,  p.  214. 

2  Bond's  Introduction,  Horsey' s  Travels,  p.  cxxix. 

3  Horsey  was  of  an  ancient  Dorsetshire  family.     He  was   a 
nephew  of  George  Horsey,  of  Digswell,  in  Hertfordshire,  and 
of  Sir  Edward  Horsey,  who  was  a  man  of  influence  and  dis- 
tinction, and  for  some  time  held  the  office  of  Governor  of  the 
Isle  of  Wight.     Jerome  Horsey  went  out  to  Russia  in  the  year 
1573,  as  an  apprentice  or  clerk,  in  the  employ  of  the  Russia 
Company.     Q:  account  of  his  talents  and  great  familiarity  with 


81 


and  presents  :  provided  by  her  Majesty's  order ; 
*  #  *  with  which  and  her  Majesty's  dispatch 
commanded  me  to  be  sworen  Esquire  of  her  body, 
gave  me  her  pictur,  and  her  hand  to  kiss." l 

Sir  George  Barnes  2d  married  Anne,  daughter 
of  the  Sir  William  Garrard,  who  figures  in  Hol- 
bein's picture,  and  who  was  made  Lord  Mayor  of 
London  in  1555,  and,  in  the  same  year  one  of  the 
four  Consuls  of  the  Muscovy  Company.  Sir 
George  died  in  1592,  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
eldest  son,  Sir  William  Barne,  Brt.,  of  Woolwich, 
Co.  Kent,  who  was  the  cotemporary  of  Henry 
Hudson,  the  discoverer,  and  married  Anne,  daugh- 
ter of  his  grace  Doctor  Edward  Sandys,  Arch- 
bishop of  York,  and  had  six  sons  and  a  daughter. 

I  have  given  a  somewhat  detailed  account  of 
this  family,  because  it  was  apparently  connected 
with  the  Hudsons,  and  like  them  from  the  very 


the  Russian  language,  he  was  selected  by  the  Czar  as  his  mes- 
senger to  Queen  Elizabeth  in  1580.  "  On  arriving  at  the 
English  court  with  the  Czar's  letters,  he  had  the  advantage  of 
being  introduced  to  the  Queen  by  his  kinsman,  Sir  Edward 
Horsey,  and  was  countenanced  by  Lord  Burghley  and  Sir  Fran- 
cis Walsingham,  through  whose  assistance  he  obtained  access 
three  or  four  several  times  to  the  Queen,  and  was  intrusted  with 
her  letters  to  the  Czar,  on  his  return  to  Russia." 

i  Sir  Jerome  Horsey's  Travels,  Hak.  Soc.  Pub.  1856,  p.  193. 


82 

commencement  was  largely  interested  in  the  Mus- 
covy Company. 

Several  of  its  members  were  likewise  concerned 
in  the  settlement  of  Virginia,  and  John  Barnes 
accompanied  our  Henry  Hudson,  in  his  second 
voyage  to  -the  north,  in  the  employ  of  the  Mus- 
covy Company.1 

"  The  present  representative  of  the  family,"  says 
Burke,  "  is  Frederick  Barne,  Esq.,  of  Sotteiiy  and 
Dunwich,  County  Suffolk,  late  M.  P.  for  Dunwich, 
and  Captain  in  the  12th  Lancers,  married  Feb., 
1834,  Mary- Anne-Elizabeth,  eldest  daughter  of  the 
late  Sir  John  Courtenay  Honywood,  Bart.,  and 
has  issue,  Frederick  St.  John  Newdigate,  and 
Alice  Mary  Honywood."2 

It  is  possible,  that  there  are  papers  or  traditions 
in  the  Barne  family,  which  would  establish  the 
relationship  with  the  family  of  Hudson,  and  illus- 
trate their  mutual  connection  with  the  Muscovy 
Company. 


1  Purchas  III,  574.     London,  1625. 

2  Arms- Quarterly  :     1st  and  4th,   az.,  three  leopard's  heads, 
arg.;  2d  and  3d,  args.,  a  chevron,  az.,  between  three  Cornish 
choughs,  sa. 

Crest,  sa.,  an  Eagle  displayed,  sa.  Motto  —  Nee  Timide, 
Nee  Temere.  Burke's  Diet.  Landed  Gentry,  vol.  I,  pp.  55, 
56.  London,  1848. 


83 


Christopher  Hudson,  whom  we  know  was  ap- 
pointed in  1560,  to  the  responsible  office  of  Agent 
of  the  Muscovy  Company,  seems  to  have  dis- 
charged with  singular  fidelity  and  ability  the 
arduous  duties  which  devolved  upon  him.  His 
advice  was  constantly  asked,  and  he  was  appa- 
rently occasionally  summoned  to  England  on 
official  business  of  importance.  Having  visited 
his  native  country  in  1569,  he  was  sent  early  in 
the  winter  of  that  year,  with  three  ships  laden 
with  merchandize  to  the  Narve,  now  Narva,  a 
town  situated  eighty  miles  south-west  from  the 
present  city  of  Saint  Petersburgh,  which  was  not 
then  in  existence,  having  been  founded  by  Peter 
the  Great,  as  late  as  the  20th  May,  1703. 

Upon  his  arrival  at  the  Narve,  Christopher 
Hudson  ascertained  that  the  ships  which  he  had 
brought  with  him  would  be  not  only  insufficient 
to  contain  the  goods  that  were  soon  expected  from 
the  interior  of  Russia,  but  would  not  accommodate 
even  the  wares  that  were  already  awaiting  ship- 
ment. Having  therefore  landed  their  cargoes,  he 
reloaded  the  ships  and  despatched  them  to  Eng- 
land, with  an  earnest  request  to  Sir  William  Gar- 
rard,  Governor  of  the  Muscovy  Company,  to  for- 
ward immediately  to  the  Narve,  thirteen  ships 


84 

suitably  armed,  to  withstand  the  attacks  of  the 
Freebooters. 

Accordingly  the  company  sent  out  in  the 
Spring  of  1570,  a  fleet  of  thirteen  sail,  under  the 
command  of  William  Burrough,  who  took  and 
destroyed  five  piratical  vessels,  and  forwarded 
their  crews  as  prisoners  to  the  Emperor  of  Russia. 
Hakluyt  in  his  Preface  to  The  Reader,  in  his  first- 
volume,  calls  particular  attention  to  "  the  memo- 
rable voyage  of  M.  Christopher  Hodson,  and  M. 
William  Burrough.,  Anno  1570,  to  the  Narue, 
wherein  with  merchants  Ships  onely,  they  tooke 
fiue  Strong  and  warrelike  Ships  of  the  Freebooters, 
which  lay  within  the  Sound  of  Denmark  of  pur- 
pose to  intercept  our  English  Fleete." 

To  one  unacquainted  with  Hakluyt's  somewhat 
obscure  style,  it  would  appear  from  the  foregoing 
that  Christopher  Hudson  accompanied  William 
Burrough  on  this  occasion.  That  such  was  not 
the  case  may  be  readily  seen  by  the  following 
"  Copy  of  a  Letter  sent  to  the  Emperour  of  Mos- 
couie,  by  Christopher  Hodsdon  and  William  Bur- 
rough,  Anno  1570." 

,  "  Most  Mightie  Emperour,  &c.,  Whereas  Sir  Wil- 
liam Garrard  and  his  felowship  the  company  of 
English  merchants,  this  last  winter  sent  hither  to 


85 

the  Narue  three  ships  laden  with  merchandise, 
which  was  left  here,  and  with  it  Christopher  Hods- 
don,  one  of  the  said  felowship,  and  their  chiefe  doer 
in  this  place,  who  when  hee  came  first  hither,  and 
untill  such  time  as  hee  had  dispatched  those  ships 
from  hence,  was  in  hope  of  goods  to  lade  twelve  or 
thirteene  sailes  of  good  ships,  against  this  shipping, 
wherefore  he  wrote  unto  the  sayd  Sir  "William 
Garrard  and  his  companie  to  send  hither  this 
Spring  the  sayd  number  of  thirteene  ships.  And 
because  that  in  their  coming  hither  wee  found  the 
freebooters  on  the  sea,  and  supposing  this  yeere  that 
they  would  be  very  strong,  he  therefore  gave  the 
said  Sir  William  and  his  Companie  advise  to  furnish 
the  sayd  number  of  ships  so  strongly,  as  they 
should  bee  able  to  withstand  the  force  of  the  Free- 
booters :  whereupon  they  have  according  to  his 
advice  sent  this  yeere  thirteene  good  ships  together 
well  furnished  with  men  and  munition,  and  all 
other  necessaries  for  the  warres,  of  which  13  ships 
William  Burrough  one  of  the  said  felowship  is 
Captaine  generall,  unto  whom  there  was  given  in 
charge,  that  if  hee  met  writh  any  the  Danske 
Freebooters,  or  whatsoever  robbers  and  theeves 
that  are  enemies  to  your  highnesse,  he  should  doe 

his   best   to  apprehend   and   take    them.     It   so 
12 


86 

hapned  that  the  tenth  day  ot  this  moneth  the  sayd 
William  with  his  fleete,  met  with  five  ships  of  the 
Freebooters  neere  unto  an  Island  called  Tuttee, 
which  is  about  50.  versts  from  Narve,  unto  which 
freebooters  hee  with  his  fleete  gave  chase,  and  tooke 
of  them  the  Admirall,  wherein  were  left  but  three 
men,  the  rest  were  fled  to  shore  in  their  boats 
amongst  the  woods  upon  Tuttee,  on  which  ship  he 
set  fire  and  burnt  her.  He  also  tooke  foure  more 
of  those  ships  which  are  now  here,  and  one  ship 
escaped  him  :  out  of  which  foure  ships  some  of 
the  men  fled  in  their  boates,  and  so  escaped,  others 
were  slain  in  fight,  and  some  of  them  when  they 
saw  they  could  not  escape,  cast  themselves  willingly 
into  the  Sea  and  were  drowned.  So  that  in  these 
five  ships  were  left  but  83.  men. 

The  said  Wil.  Borough  when  he  came  hither  to 
Narve,  finding  here  Christopher  Hodsdon  afore- 
named, both  the  said  Christopher  and  William 
together,  in  the  name  of  Sir  William  Gurrard  and 
the  rest  of  their  whole  companie  and  felowship, 
did  present  unto  your  highnesse  of  those  Freeboot- 
ers taken  by  our  ships  82.  men,  which  we  delivered 
here  unto  Knez  Voivoda,  the  13.  of  this  moneth. 
One  man  of  those  Freebooters  we  have  kept  by  us, 
whose  name  is  Haunce  Snarke,  Captaine.  And  the 


87 

cause  why  we  have  done  it  is  this :  when  wee 
should  have  delivered  him  with  the  reste  of  his 
felowes  unto  the  Voivodaes  officers,  there  were  of 
our  Englishmen  more  then  50.  which  fell  on  their 
knees  unto  us,  requesting  that  he  might  be  reserved 
in  the  ship,  and  caried  back  into  England,  and 
the  cause  why  they  so  earnestly  entreated  for  him, 
is,  that  some  of  those  our  Englishmen  had  bene 
taken  with  Freebooters,  and  by  his  meanes  had 
their  lives  saved,  with  great  favour  besides,  which 
they  found  at  his  hands.  Wherefore  if  it  please 
your  highnesse  to  permit  it,  we  will  carry  him  home 
with  us  to  England,  wherein  we  request  your 
majestie's  favour :  notwithstanding  what  you  com- 
mand of  him  shal  be  observed. 

Wee  have  also  sent  our  servant  to  your  highnesse 
with  such  bestellings  and  writings  as  were  found  in 
those  shippes :  whereby  your  majestie  may  see  by 
whom,  and  in  what  order  they  were  set  out,  and 
what  they  pretended,  which  writings  wee  have  com- 
mended unto  Knez  Yorive  your  Majestie's  Voivoda 
at  Plesco,  by  our  servant.  And  have  requested 
his  furtherance  for  the  safe  deliverie  of  them  to 
your  Majestie's  hands :  which  writings  when  you 
have  perused,  wee  desire  that  they  may  bee 
returned  unto  us  by  this  our  servant,  as  speedily 


88 

as  may  bee :  for  these  ships  which  we  now  have 
here  will  be  soon  dispatched  from  hence,  for  that 
wee  have  not  goods  to  lade  above  the  half  of  them. 
And  the  cause  is,  we  have  this  winter  (by  your 
Majestie's  order)  bene  kept  from  traffiquing,  to  the 
Companies  great  loss.  But  hoping  your  majestie 
will  hereafter  have  consideration  thereof,  and  that 
we  may  have  free  libertie  to  trafique  in  all  partes 
of  your  majestie's  countries,  according  to  the  privi- 
lege given  unto  us,  we  pray  for  your  majesties 
health,  with  prosperous  successe  to  the  pleasure 
of  God.  From  Narve  the  15.  of  July,  Anno  1570. 
Your  Majesties  most  humble 

and  obedient 
CHRISTOPHER  HODSDON,  WILLIAM  BOROUGH.1 

William  Burrough,  who  achieved  such  a  signal 
victory  over  the  freebooters,  and  joined  his  friend 
Christopher  Hudson  in  the  foregoing  communica- 
tion addressed  to  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  was  born 
about  the  year  1540,  and  became  in  several  ways 
a  distinguished  man.  When  only  thirteen,2  he 
accompanied  his  brother  Stephen  Burrough,  who 
commanded  the  ship  Edward  Bon avent Lire,  which 

1  Hakluyt,  I,  401,  402. 

2  Hakluyt,  I,  417. 


89 

carried  Kichard  Chancellor,  in  his  famous  voyage 
to  the  Bay  of  St.  Nicholas  in  1553.1  "  Also  in  the 
yeere  1556"  he  was,  "in  the  voyage  when  the 
coastes  of  Samoed  and  Noua  Zembla,  with  the 
Straightes  of  Vaigatz  were  found  out :  and  in  the 
yeere  1557,  when  the  coast  of  Lappia,  and  the  bay 
of  S.  Nicholas  were  more  perfectly  discouered."2 
In  1574,  and  1575,  he  was  one  of  the  Muscovy 
Company's  Russian  Agents,  and  shortly  afterwards 
Queen  Elizabeth  appointed  him  Comptroller  of  her 
Majesty's  Navy.  In  1580,  we  find  him  giving 
certain  "  Instructions  and  Notes,"  to  Arthur  Pet, 
who  had  been  his  messmate  twenty-seven  years 
before,  and  was  now  about  setting  forth  upon  his 
expedition  with  Charles  Jackman.  "  A  dedicatorie 
Epistle  vnto  the  Queenes  most  excellent  Maiestie, 
by  Master  "William  Burrough,"  is  in  the  collections 
of  Hakluyt,  who  says  it  was  "  annexed  vnto  his 
[W.  Burrough's]  exact  and  notable  mappe  of 
Kussia"  and  contained  (a  amongst  other  matters) 
his  great  trauailes,  obseruations,  and  experiments 
both  by  sea  and  land,  especially  in  those  North- 


1  See  '  List '  found  on  board  Sir  Hugh  Willougbby's  ship, 
the  Speranza,  Hakluyt,  I,  233. 

2  A  dedicatorie   Epistle  vnto   the   Queenes   most  excellent 
Majestic.     Hakluyt,  I,  417. 


90 

eastern  parts."1  William  Burrough's  nephew 
Christopher  Burrough,  who  may  have  been  thus 
named  after  Christopher  Hudson,  wrote  'sundrie 
letters'  to  his  uncle,  concerning  the  6th  "voyage 
made  into  the  partes  of  Persia  and  Media,"  for  the 
Muscovy  Company,  in  the  years  1579,  1580  and 
1581,  in  which  Captain  Thomas  Hudson  of  Lime- 
house  was  repeatedly  mentioned. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  with  certainty, 
any  thing  whatever  respecting  Christopher  Hudson 
during  the  period  of  ten  years,  subsequent  to  the 
date  of  his  letter  to  the  Emperor  of  Kussia.  In 
1580  however,  he  was  once  more  living  in  Eng- 
land and  was  engaged  with  several  other  prominent 
men  in  a  private  adventure  to  Brazil.  It  appears 
that  as  early  as  the  26th  June  1578,  one  John 
Whithall,  an  Englishman,  who  had  married,  and 
was  then  living  at  "  Santos  in  Brazil,"  wrote  to 
Master  Eichard  Staper,2  urging  him  to  send  to  that 
port,  a  fine  bark  of  seventy  or  eighty  tons,  in 


1  Hakluyt,  I,  417. 

2  St.  Martin's  Oteswizck    Church.     "Mr.   Richard  Staper, 
an  Alderman  elect,   who  was   the   greatest  Merchant  of   his 
Time,  and  the  chiefest  Actor  in  discovering  the  Turkey  and 
East-India  Trades,  who  died  June  30,  1608,"  is  buried  in  this 
church  with  the  above  inscription."     Mag.  Brit.  Acct.  of  Lon- 
don, vol.  Ill,  p.  101,  edition  of  1738. 


91 

charge  of  a  Portuguese  pilot,  and  laden  with  a 
variety  of  articles,  which  were  enumerated  in  a 
list  that  accompanied  the  letter.1  John  Whithall 
also  corresponded  with  Master  John  Bird,  Master 
Robert  Walkaden,  and  his  brother  James  Whit- 
hall  of  London;  promising  them  at  least  two 
hundred  per  cent  profit  on  the  cargo  sent  out,  and 
equal  gains  on  the  return  voyage.  Accordingly 
after  some  delay,  "  Christopher  Hodsdon,  Anthonie 
Garrard,  Thomas  Bramlie,  John  Bird,  and  William 
Elkin,"  formed  an  association  to  undertake  the 
enterprise.  Having  procured  the  good  ship  the 
Minion  of  London,  they  loaded  her  with  such 
goods  as  they  were  directed  to  procure,  and 
despatched  her  to  Brazil  on  the  3d  of  November, 
1580  ;  sending  in  her  a  letter  directed  to  John  Whit- 
hall,  written  in  London,  October  the  24th,  and 
signed  by  each  of  them.  Although  Hakluyt  has 
preserved  a  copy  of  this  letter,  together  with  '  cer- 
taine  notes '  of  the  voyage  to  Brazil,  written  by 
Thomas  Grigs,  purser  of  the  ship,  we  have  no 
account  of  the  result  of  the  speculation. 

We  are  now  to  learn  the  interesting  fact  that 
two  or  three  years  after  his  Brazilian  venture,  Chris- 
topher Hudson  was  prominently  and  zealously  busy 

i  Hakluyt,  III,  701,  702,  703,  ed.  1600. 


92 

with  other  leading  members  of  the  Muscovy  or 
Russia  Company,  in  furthering  an  attempt  to  dis- 
cover and  colonize  the  6  northern  and  western  parts 
of  America.' 

,  On  the  22d  March,  1574,  a  petition  had  been 
addressed  to  Queen  Elizabeth  by  Sir  Humphrey 
Gilbert,  Sir  George  Peckham,  Mr.  Carlile,  Sir 
Richard  Grenville  and  others,  to  allow  of  an  enter- 
prise for  discovery  of  sundry  rich  and  unknown 
lands,  "fatally  reserved  for  England  and  for  the 
honor  of  your  Maj^."1  Four  years  later,  viz:  the 
llth  June,  1578,  the  Queen  granted  letters  patent 
to  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  to  discover  and  take  pos- 
session of  all  remote  and  barbarous  lands  unoccu- 
pied by  any  Christian  prince  or  people.2  Having 
made  an  unsuccessful  expedition  under  this  grant, 
Sir  Humphrey  was  forced  to  return  to  England,  with 
the  loss  of  a  fine  ship,  and  the  6  valiant  gentleman 
Miles  Morgan.'3  Undismayed  by  misfortune,  Gil- 
bert's gallant  and  energetic  nature,  always  equal  to 
an  emergency,  enabled  him  to  commend  the  sub- 
ject of  a  second  voyage  for  investigation  and  set- 


1  Domestic    Coresp.  Eliz.,  vol.  XCV,  No.  63   Cal.,  p.  475, 
cited  by  Mr.  Sainsbury. 

2  Hakluyt,  III,  135,  ed.  1600. 

3  M.  Edward  Haies  in  Hakluyt,  III,  146. 


93 

tlement  in  America,  to  the  most  favorable  notice  of 
many  influential  men.1  Accordingly  on  the  llth 
March,  1583,2  we  find  Sir  Francis  Walsingham 
writing  to  Master  Thomas  Aldworth,  merchant, 
and  at  that  time  mayor  of  the  city  of  Bristol,  in 
the  following  terms : 

"  I  have  for  certaine  causes  deferred  the  answere 
of  your  letter  of  Nouember  last  till  now,  which  I 
hope  commeth  all  in  good  time.  Your  good  incli- 
nation to  the  Westerne  discouerie  I  cannot  but 
much  commend.  And  for  that  Sir  Humfrey  Gil- 
bert, as  you  haue  heard  long  since,  hath  bene  pre- 
paring into  those  parts  being  readie  to  imbarke 
within  these  10.  dayes,  who  needeth  some  further 
supply  of  shipping  then  yet  he  hath,  I  am  of 
opinion  that  you  shall  do  well  if  the  ship  or  2. 


1  The  following  affords  a  glimpse  of  Gilbert's  dealings  with, 
Dr.  Dee  : 

"  [1580]  Sept.  10th,  Sir  Humfry  Gilbert  granted  me  my 
request  to  him,  made  by  letter,  for  the  royaltyes  of  discovery 
all  to  the  North  above  the  parallell  of  the  50  degree  of 
latitude,  in  the  presence  of  Stoner,  Sir  John  Gilbert,  his  ser- 
vant or  reteiner  ;  and  thereupon  t&ke  me  by  the  hand  with  faith- 
full  promises  in  his  lodging  of  John  Cooke's  howse  in  Wich- 
cross  strete,  where  wee  dyned  onely  us  three  together,  being 
Satterday."  Dr.  Dee's  Priv.  Diary,  p.  8,  Cam.  Soc.  Pub.,  1842. 

2  1582,  as  printed  in  Hakluyt,  III,  182,  is  clearly  incorrect, 
as  may  be  gathered  from  Aldworth's  reply  dated  March  27, 1583. 

13 


94 


barkes  you  write  of,  be  put  in  a  readinesse  to  goe 
alongst  with  him,  or  so  soone  after  as  you  may. 
I  hope  this  trauell  wil  proue  profitable  to  the  Ad- 
venturers and  generally  beneficiall  to  the  whole 
realme:  herein  I  pray  you  conferre  with  these 
bearers,  M.  Richard  Hackluyt,  and  M.  Thomas 
Steuenton,  to  whome  I  referre  you :  And  so  bid  you 
heartily  farewell." l 

Thomas  Aid  worth  replied  "  to  the  right  honour- 
able Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  principall  Secretary 
to  her  Maiestie,  concerning  a  Westerne  voyage 
intended  for  the  discouery  of  the  coast  of  America, 
lying  to  the  South-west  of  Cape  Briton,"  in  a  letter 
dated  at  Bristol  on  the  27th  March,  1583.  He 
said :  "  I  presently  conferred  with  my  friends  in 
private,  whom  J  know  most  affectionate  to  this 
godly  enterprise,  especially  with  M.  William  Sal- 
terne  deputie  of  our  companie  of  merchants; 
whereupon  my  selfe  being  as  then  sicke,  with  as 
convenient  speede  as  he  could,  hee  caused  an 
assembly  of  the  merchants  to  be  gathered :  where 
after  dutifull  mention  of  your  honourable  disposi- 
lion  for  the  benefite  of  this  citie,  he  by  my  appoint- 
ment caused  your  letters  being  directed  unto  me 


Hakluyt,  TIT,  182,  ed.  1600. 


95 

priuatly,  to  be  read  in  publike,  and  after  some 
good  light  giuen  by  M.  Hakluyt  unto  them  that 
were  ignorant  of  the  Countrey  and  enterprise,  and 
were  desirous  to  be  resolued,  the  motion  grew  gen- 
erally so  well  to  be  liked,  that  there  was  eftsoones 
set  downe  by  mens  owne  hands  then  present,  and 
apparently  knowen  by  their  .own  speach,  and  very 
willing  offer,  the  summe  of  1000.  markes  and 
upward :  which  summe  if  it  should  not  suffice,  we 
doubt  not  but  otherwise  to  furnish  out  for  this  West- 
erne  discouery,  a  ship  of  three  score,  and  a  barke 
of  40.  tunne,  to  bee  left  in  the  countrey  under  the 
direction  and  gouernment  of  your  Sanne  in  law 
M.  Carlilv,  of  whom  we  haue  heard  much  good,  if  it 
shall  stand  with  your  honors  good  liking  and  his 
acceptation."1 

The  'M.  Carlile'  incorrectly  referred  to  in  the 
above  letter,  as  the  son-in-law  of  Sir  Francis  "Wai 
singham,  was  Christopher  Carlile,  who,  together 
with  Gilbert,  Peckham  and  Grenville,  had  nine 
years  before  petitioned  Queen  Elizabeth.2  He  was 
in  reality  the  step-son  of  Sir  Francis  Walsingham. 
His  mother  was  Anne  Barnes,  the  daughter  of  Sir 


1  Hakluyt,  III,  182,  ed.  1600. 

2  Domes.  Corresp.  Eliz.,  vol.  XCV.  No.  63,  Gal,  p.  475. 


96 


George  Barnes,  the  elder,  Lord  Mayor  of  London 
in  1552.1  His  father,  Alexander  Carlile,  ' master 
of  the  Vyntoners,'  died  in  1561,  and  an  account 
of  his  funeral  is  given  by  Machyn.2 

His  mother 3  married  secondly  Sir  Francis  Wal- 


iBurke's  Hist,  of  the  Commoners,  I,  139. 

2  Machyn's  Diary,  269. 

3  Burke's  Hist,  of  the   Commoners,  I,  139.     Anne  Barnes, 
widow  of  Alexander  Carlile,  was  the  first  wife  of  Sir  Francis 
Walsingham.     She  died  leaving  no  children  by  Sir  Francis,  who 
married  a  second   time,  a   widow,    Ursula,   relict  of  Richard 
Worsley,  Governor  of  the  Isle  of  Wight.     By  his  second  wife 
Sir  Francis  Walsingham  left  one  daughter,  that  was  married 
thrice ;   first,  to  Sir  Philip  Sidney ;   secondly,  to  Robert  Dev- 
ereaux,  Earl  of  Essex;  and  thirdly  to  Richard  Bourk,  Earl  of 
Clanricarde,  in  Ireland.     Burke's  Hist,  of  Commoners,  II,  448. 
Biog.  Britannica,  VII,  4142.     Lodge,  III. 

Sir  Francis  Walsyngham,  of  an  ancient  family  in  Norfolk, 
was  the  third  and  youngest  son  of  William  Walsynham,  of 
Scadbury,  in  the  parish  of  Chislehurst,  in  Kent,  by  Joyce, 
daughter  of  Edmund  Denny,  of  Cheshunt  in  Hertfordshire. 
He  was  born  at  Chislehurst  in  1536.  He  died  April  6th,  1590, 
at  his  house  in  Seething-lane.  Chalmers  Biog.  Diet.,  XXXI, 
69.  It  appears  that  in  1589  he  entertained  Queen  Elizabeth 
at  his  house  at  Barn-Elms  and,  'J  as  was  usual  in  all  her  majesty's 
visits,  her  whole  court.  Previously  to  this  visit  the  queen  had 
taken  a  lease  of  the  manor  of  Barn-Elms,  which  was  to  com- 
mence after  the  expiration  of  Sir  Henry  Wyatt's  in  1600.  Her 
interest  in  this  lease  she  granted  by  letters  patent,  bearing  date 
the  twenty-first  year  of  her  reign,  to  Sir  Francis  Walsyngham 
and  his  heirs.  He  passed  his  latter  days  mostly  in  this  retire- 
ment at  Barnes."  Chalmer's  Biog.  Diet.,  XXXI,  75. 


97 

singham.  We  specially  noted1  the  interest  mani- 
fested towards  Christopher  Hudson  by  Sir  George 
Barnes,  and  a  little  later  we  found  further  evidence 
indicating  a  relationship  between  the  two  families. 
We  shall  presently  see  Sir  George  Barnes's  son-in- 
law.  Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  and  his  grandson, 
Christopher  Carlile,  closely  allied  with  Christopher 
Hudson,  in  a  mutual  effort  to  set  on  foot  explora- 
tions in  the  New  World. 

It  appears  that  in  April,  1583,  immediately  after 
the  receipt  of  Aldworth's  answer  to  Sir  Francis 
Walsingham,  Captain  Carljle  wrote  "  A  briefe  and 
summary  discourse  vpon  the  intended  voyage  to 
the  hithermost  parts  of  America  :  *  *  for  the 
better  inducement  to  satisfie  such  Merchants  of  the 
Moscouian  cornpanie  and  others,  as  in  disbursing 
their  money  towards  the  furniture  of  the  present 
charge,  doe  demand  forthwith  a  present  returne  of 
gaine,  albeit  their  said  particular  disbursements 
are  required  but  in  very  slender  summes,  the 
highest  being  25.  li.  the  second  at  12  li.  10  s.  and 
the  lowest  at  6.  pound  five  shillings." 2 

In  comparing  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from 


1  See  ante,  pages  64,  65,  70,  71. 

2  Hakluyt,  III,  182. 


98 

the  present  enterprise,  with  the  uncertainties 
attending  the  trade  of  the  Muscovy  Company  to 
Russia,  Carlile  remarks:  "It  is  well  knowen,  that 
what  by  the  charges  of  the  first  discouery  [by 
Richard  Chancelor],  and  by  the  Great  gifts  bestowed 
on  the  Empereur  [of  Russia]  and  his  nobilitie, 
togither  with  the  lend  dealing  of  some  of  their 
servants,  who  thought  themselues  safe  enough  from 
orderly  punishment,  it  cost  the  [Muscovy  or 
Russia]  company  aboue  fourescore  thousand  pounds, 
before  it  coulde  be  brought  to  any  profitable  reck- 
oning. And  now  that  a,fter  so  long  a  patience  and 
so  great  a  burthen  of  expences,  the  same  began  to 
frame  to  some  good  course  and  commoditie :  It 
falleth  to  very  ticklish  termes,  and  to  as  slender 
likelihood  of  any  further  goodnes,  as  any  other 
trade  that  may  be  named. 

"  For  first  the  estate  of  those  Countreys  and 
the  Emperours  dealings,  are  things  more  fickle  then 
are  by  euerybody  understood. 

"  Next,  the  Dutchmen  are  there  so  crept  in  as 
they  daily  augment  their  trade  thither,  which  may 
well  oonfirme  that  uncertainty  of  the  Emperor's 
disposition  to  keepe  promise  with  our  nation. 

e6  Thirdly,  the  qualitie  of  the  voyage,  such  as 
may  not  be  performed  but  once  the  yeere. 


99 

"  Fourthly,  the  charges  of  all  Ambassadours  be- 
tweene  that  Prince  and  her  Maiesty,  are  alwayes 
borne  by  the  merchants  stocke. 

"And  lastly,  the  danger  of  the  King  of  Den- 
marke,  who  besides  that  presently  he  is  like  to 
enforce  a  tribute  on  us  [the  Muscovy  Company] , 
hath  likewise  an  aduantage  upon  the  ships  in 
their  voyage,  either  homewards  or  outwards  when- 
soever he  listeth  to  take  the  opportunitie." 

In  strong  contrast  to  these  difficulties  and  dan- 
gers, Carlile  brought  forward  the  following  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert's  contem- 
plated voyage  to  New  Foundland. 

"1.  As  first  it  is  to  be  understood,  that  it  is  not 
any  long  course,  for  it  may  be  perfourmed  too  and 
fro  in  foure  moneths  after  the  discouerie  thereof. 

"  2.  Secondly,  that  one  wind  suffice th  to  make 
the  passage,  whereas  most  of  your  other  voyages 
of  like  length,  are  subiect  to  3.  or  4.  winds. 

"  3.  Thirdly,  that  it  is  to  be  perfourmed  at  all 
times  of  the  yeere. 

"  4.  Fourthly,  that  the  passage  is  upon  the  high 
sea,  wherby  you  are  not  bound  to  the  knowledge 
of  dangers,  on  any  other  coast,  more  then  of  that 
Countrey,  and  of  ours  here  at  home. 

"5.  Fiftly,  that  those   parts  of  England   and 


100 

Ireland,  which  lie  aptest  for  the  proceeding  out- 
ward or  homeward  upon  this  voyage,  are  very  well 
stored  of  goodly  harbours. 

"6.  Sixtly,  that  it  is  to  bee  accounted  of  no 
danger  at  all  as  touching  the  power  of  any  forreine 
prince  or  state,  when  it  is  compared  with  any  the 
best  of  all  other  voyages  before  recited. 

"  7.  And  to  the  godly  minded,  it  hath  this  com- 
fortable commoditie,  that  in  this  trade  their  Fac- 
tours,  fee  they  their  seruants  or  children  shall 
haue  no  instruction  or  confessions  of  Idolatrous 
Eeligion  enforced  upon  them,  but  contrarily  shall 
be  at  their  free  libertie  of  conscience,  and  shall 
find  the  same  Keligion  exercised,  which  is  most 
agreeable  unto  their  Parents  and  Masters. 

"As  for  the  merchandising,  which  is  the  matter 
especially  looked  for,  albeit  that  for  the  present 
we  are  not  certainely  able  to  promise  any  such 
like  quantitie,  as  is  now  at  the  best  vtime  of  the 
Moscouian  trade  brought  from  thence :  So  like- 
wise is  there  not  demanded  any  such  proportion 
of  daily  expences,  as  was  at  the  first,  and  as  yet  is 
consumed  in  that  of  Moscouia  and  other. 

"But  when  this  of  America,  shall  have  bene 
haunted  and  practised  thirtie  yeeres  to  an  ende, 
as  the  other  hath  bene,  1  doubt  not  by  God's 


101 


grace,  that  for  the  tenne  Shippes  that  are  now 
commonly  employed  once  the  yeere  into  Moscouia, 
there  shall  in  this  voyage  twise  tenne  be  imployed 
well,  twise  the  yeere  at  the  least."1 

Christopher  Hudson,  and  his  old  friend  and 
comrade  William  Burrough,  were  active  and  promi- 
nent members  of  the  Committee,  appointed  by  the 
Muscovy  or  Russia  Company,  to  take  into  consid- 
eration the  arguments  of  Captain  Christopher 
Carlile,  and  to  confer  with  him  "  vpon  his  in- 
tended discouerie  and  attempt  into  the  hithermost 
parts  of  America."2  The  following  abstract  of  the 
Report  of  the  Committee  is  taken  from  the  Cal- 
endar of  State  Papers,  Colonial  Series,  edited  by 
W.  Noel  Sainsbury  Esq.3 

"The  Committies  are  well  persuaded  that  the 
country  is  very  fruitful ;  inhabited  with  savage 
people  of  a  mild  and  tractable  disposition,  and  of 
all  other  unfrequented  places  '  the  only  most  fit- 
test and  most  commodious  for  us  to  intermeddle 
withal.'  They  propose  that  one  hundred  men  be 
conveyed  thither,  to  remain  one  year,  who  with 


iHakluyt,  III,  184. 

2  Hakluyt,  III,  188.     C.  Hudson's  name,  in  the  printed  list, 
is  spelled  Hoddesden. 

3  Gal   State  Papers,  Col.  Series,  I.     London,  1860. 

14 


102 


friendly  entreaty  of  the  people,  may  enter  into  the 
better  knowledge  of  the  country,  and  gather  what 
commodities  may  be  hereafter  expected  from  it. 
The  charges  will  amount  to  4,OOOZ.,  the  city  of 
Bristol  having  very  readily  offered  1,000?.,  the 
residue  remains  to  be  furnished  by  the  city  of 
London.  Privileges  to  be  procured  by  Mr.  Carlile 
for  the  first  adventurers ;  also  terms  upon  which 
future  settlers  will  be  allowed  to  plant.  In  the 
patent  to  be  granted  by  the  Queen,  liberty  will  be 
given  to  transport  all  contented  to  go,  who  will  be 
bound  to  stay  there  ten  years  at  least.  None  to 
go  over  without  license  of  the  patentees,  neither 
to  inhabit  nor  traffic  within  200  leagues  of  the 
place  where,  ( the  General  shall  have  first  settled 
his  being  and  residence.'" 

The  above  is  given  as  the  most  important  por- 
tion of  the  document  in  the  English  State  Paper 
Office,  entitled  "  Points  set  down  by  the  Commit- 
tees appointed  in  the  behalf  of  the  Company  to  con- 
fer with  Mr.  Carleill  upon  his  in  tended  disco  very  and 
attempt  in  the  northern  parts  of  America."1  This 
is  the  earliest  paper  preserved  and  calendared  by 
Mr.  Sainsbury,  who  says  in  his  preface,  that  it 


1  Col.  State  Papers,  Colonial  Series,  I. 


103 

belongs  to  the  year  1574;1  he  accordingly  intro- 
duces that  date  into  the  title  of  his  work.  It  is 
evident,  however,  from  the  mark  of  interrogation 
placed  after  1574,  on  the  first  page  of  his  Calendar, 
that  he  is  not  entirely  certain  as  to  the  propriety  of 
this  chronological  arrangement.2 

This  report  is  styled  by  Hakluyt  "  Articles  set 
downe  by  the  Committies  appointed  in  the  behalfe 
of  the  Companie  of  Moscouian  Marchants,  to  con- 
ferre  with  M.  Carlile."3  It  is  placed  immediately 
after  Captain  Carlile's  "Briefe  and  summary  dis- 
course vpon.  the  intended  voyage,4"  written  in 
April,  1583,  and  must  have  been  made  a  short 
time  after  Carlile's  arguments  were  presented  to 
the  Committee  for  consideration. 

I  am  accordingly  of  the  opinion  that  Mr.  Sains- 
bury,  whose  general  accuracy  is  proverbial,  is  incor- 
rect in  assigning  this  document  to  the  year  1574. 
He  has  in  fact  given  it  nine  more  years  of  age  than 
it  is  entitled  to  receive;  its  real  date  being  the 
spring  of  the  year  1583. 


1  Gal  State  Papers,  Col.  Series  1574-1660,  VII. 

2  Same,  p.  1. 

3  Hakluyt,  111,188,  189. 

4  Hakluyt,  III,  182-187. 


104 


Having  perfected  all  his  arrangements,  and 
obtained  his  supplies,  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert 
departed  from  'CaushenBay  neere  Plimmouth'1 
on  Tuesday  the  eleventh  of  June,  1583,  with  a 
fleet  of  five  ships.  One  of  the  best  of  these, 
however,  forsook  his  company,  the  thirteenth 
day  of  the  same  month  and  returned  into  Eng- 
land.2 This  was  the  ominous  commencement  of  a 
series  of  misfortunes  which  culminated  on  the 
night  of  the  twelfth  of  September  following,  with 
the  loss  of  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  and  the  little 
frigate3  in  which  he  was  returning  to  England, 
after  having  taken  possession  of  Newfoundland  by 
virtue  of  his  patent  from  Queen  Elizabeth.4 

Christopher  Carlile's  name  does  not  appear  in 
the  list  of  officers,  and  it  is  not  probable  that  he 
accompanied  Gilbert's  expedition,  although  inter- 
ested in  its  equipment  and  success.5  Two  years 
later  he  was  second  in  command  under  Sir  Francis 
Drake ;  and  in  Thomas  Cotes's  account  of  that 


1  Sir  George  Peckham,  in  Hakluyt,  III,  165. 

2  Master  Edward  Haies,  in  Hakluyt,  III,  149. 

3  Edward  Haies,  in  Hakluyt,  III,  159. 

4  Sir  George  Peckham,  in   Hakluyt,  III,  165.     Haies,   in 
Hakluyt,  III,  151. 

s  E.  Haies,  in  Hakluyt,  III,  148. 


105 

West  Indian  voyage,  he  is  described  as  '  Master 
Christopher  Carleil,  Lieutenant  General,  a  man  of 
long  experience  in  the  warres,  as  well  by  sea  as 
land,  who  had  formerly  caried  high  offices  in  both 
kindes,  in  many  fights,  which  he  discharged  alwaies- 
very  happily,  and  with  great  good  reputation/  l 

Christopher  Hudson  had  from  the  outset  taken 
a  deep  interest  in  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert's  scheme. 
Entering  into  his  views  in  many  respects,  he  had 
recommended  the  Muscovy  or  Russia  Company  to 
assist  in  raising  the  funds  requisite  to  dispatch 
Gilbert  on  his  voyage  of  investigation  and  settle- 
ment. His  own  acute  and  sagacious  intellect  had 
been  engaged  for  many  years  in  planning  the 
exploration  of  America,  and  he  felt  the  importance 
of  the  undertaking.  How  sadly  Christopher  Hud- 
son must  have  listened  to  the  news  of  the  disas- 
trous termination  of  his  hopes,  and  the  tragic 
death  of  his  friend.  He  was  not  the  man,  how- 
ever, to  be  daunted  by  adverse  fortune,  and  he 
undoubtedly  made  other  essays  in  a  similar  direc- 
tion. In  the  year  1601  we  find  him  holding  the 
office  of  governor  of  the  Merchant  Adventurers, 
and  writing  to  Lord  Ellesmere  in  regard  to  the 


Thomas  Cotes,  in  Hakluyt,  III,  534. 


106 

export  of  cloths.  The  manufacture  of  woolen 
eloth  was  introduced  into  England  by  Edward  the 
Third,  in  the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth  century ; 
and  under  the  title  of  Merchants  of  the  Staple, 
the  Mercers  became  extensive  dealers  in  them. 
Having  attained  high  distinction  and  eminence, 
the  fraternity  of  Mercers  was  incorporated  in  the 
year  139 3. 1  From  the  body  known  as  Merchants 
of  the  Staple,  another  society  arose  in  1358,  styled 
the  Company  of  Merchant  Adventurers.  They 
did  not,  however,  obtain  this  name  until  the  reign 


1  The  words  Mercer  and  Merchant  Adventurer  are  familiar  to 
many  persons,  who  perhaps  do  not  attach  a  very  definite  idea  to 
either  term.  By  the  former  appellation,  in  remote  times,  was 
meant  a*iy  dealer  in  small  wares;  but  as  the  commerce  of  this 
country  [England]  became  more  extended,  the  operations  of 
the  mercers  assumed  a  more  important  character,  and  the  words 
mercer -and  merchant  became  nearly  synonymous.  Their  exist- 
ence as  a  company  may  be  traced  as  far  back  as  the  year  1172, 
though  they  were  not  incorporated  till  1393.  They  take  pre- 
cedence of  all  the  other  city  companies,  and  number  among  their 
members,  says  Hall,  "  several  Kings,  princes,  nobility,  and  nine- 
ty-eight Lord  mayors."  Sir  Richard  Whittington,  whose 
romantic  tale  is  familiarly  known  to  every  one,  was  a  member 
of  this  company;  as  was  Sir  Geoffrey  Bullen,  maternal  grand- 
father to  Queen  Elizabeth;  and,  what  is  a  yet  greater  boastr 
Queen  Elizabeth  herself,  who  honored  the  mercers  by  becoming 
a  free  sister  of  this  company.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that 
there  is  scarcely  a  single  mercer  in  the  Mercers'  Company  at 
the  present  day.  Herbert's  Hist.,  &c.  and  Stow,  by  Strype, 
passim.  Burgon's  Gresham,  Vol.  I,  pp.  185,  186. 


107 


of  Henry  the  Seventh.  They  had  in  the  first  in- 
stance established  a  factory  at  Antwerp  forj  the 
manufacture  of  woolen  cloth.  Their  sovereign, 
seeing  the  flourishing  condition  of  their  trade, 
encouraged  them  to  remove  into  England,  which 
they  accordingly  did.  The  king  was  induced,  by 
the  success  of  his  experiment,  to  prohibit  the 
exportation  of  English  wool,  as  well  as  to  forbid 
the  importation  of  all  foreign  cloth  into  the  realm, 
Burgon  says  :  "  The  prosperity  of  the  Merchant 
Adventurers  was  permanent,  and  Sir  Thomas- 
Gresham,  with  many  other  mercers,  was  enrolled 
among  them.  Certain  privileges  and  immunities, 
originally  granted  to  this  company  by  charter,  had 
been  confirmed  to  them  by  every  successive  mon- 
arch since  their  incorporation ;  and  few  as  they 
were  in  number,  they  virtually  monopolized  the 
commerce  of  the  country.  They  constituted  a 
fellowship  which  was  under  the  control  of  a  Gov- 
ernor elected  'out  of  their  own  body ;  and  they 
appointed  deputy-governors  for  all  their  residences 
at  home  and  abroad." 1  Such  was  the  powerful  cor- 
poration of  which  Christopher  Hudson  was  now 
the  chief  governor. 


Burgoa's  Life  of  Sir  Thomas  Gresham,  Vol.  Ir  188. 


108 


It  appears  that  the  Earl  of  Cumberland  had 
obtained  from  Queen  Elizabeth  a  patent  for  the 
-exportation  of  cloth,  which  involved  him  in  a  dis- 
pute with  the  company  of  Merchant  Adventurers. 
Fearing  lest  his  adversaries  should  succeed  in 
setting  aside  the  grant,  or  rendering  it  unprofita- 
ble, the  Earl  wrote  the  following  letter  to  Lord 
Ellesmere,  one  of  the  Lords  of  the  Council,  praying 
him  earnestly  for  assistance.  From  this  epistle, 
which  is  endorsed  by  Ellesmere,  "  The  E.  of 
Cumberland,  5  Martj.,  1601,"  we  shall  learn  that 
Sir  E.  Cecill  and  Sir  Edward  Stafford  had  both 
previously  enjoyed  similar  patents. 

"  To  the  Ryglit  Honorable  my  very  good  Lo.  Lo.  Keper 
of  the  Great  Seale  of  Inglande. 

My  good  Lo.  I  resolved  to  have  attended  your 
Lo.  this  daye  at  the  Court,  but  one  of  the  sicke 
fittis  wherwith  I  am  often  troubled  forceth  my 
staye,  and,  doubtyng  least  hir  Maj.  should  enter 
into  speeche  with  your  Lo.  concernyng  my  cause, 
pardon  me  for  rememberyng  you  ho  we  it  standeth. 
The  only  inconvenyence  can  cum  by  it  to  the 
Marchant  Adventurerrs  is  my  grauntyng  leave  to 
otherrs  not  free  of  ther  cumpany,  or  to  interloperrs 
though  they  be  free,  to  shippe  clothes  contrary  to 


109 

the  order  of  ther  courtes  here.  I  have  ever  beene 
contented,  and  still  am,  that  thoes  persons  which 
ar  obedyent  to  the  Government  shall  only  have 
lycence  from  me,  soe  long  as  your  Lo.  of  the  Coun- 
cell  doothe  not  direct  me  contrary ;  and  for  the 
pryce  I  will  refer  myselfe  to  any  reasonable  con- 
sitheration.  For  thoes  clothes  which  have  al- 
ready beene  shipped  by  unfreemen  in  straungerrs 
bottoms,  the  faule  of  clothe  by  the  marchants 
practis  forced  me  to  seeke  out  any  which  would 
bwy ;  soe  they  broke  the  malytyus  platt  which 
was  layde  to  macke  the  clothyer  exclayme  upon 
me,  by  which  culler,  provyng  my  patent  hurtfull 
to  the  commonwelthe,  it  should  have  been  re- 
voked. Alsoe  I  was  extreamly  urged  by  hir  Maj. 
officerrs  in  the  Custom  House,  and  tould  that  if  I 
should  refuse  to  grant  lycense  to  such  as  for  dy- 
vers  years  past  had  used  to  shippe,  it  would  soe 
much  prejudice  the  Qu.  in  her  custom  as  justly  I 
should  be  founde  fault  with  for  it  ;  and  to  aprove 
that  they  myght  passe  in  straungerrs  bottoms 
showed  me  tooe  letters  to  allowe  it,  writte  to  them 
by  great  counsellors,  soe  as  I  hoope  I  am  not  in 
the  wysest  censure  to  be  condemned. 

Sense  my  grant  I  have  shipped  over  some  1200 

clothes :   there  was  nether  Mr.  Secretory  nor  Sir 
15 


110 

Ed.  Stafford,  but  shipped  3000  at  the  least  before 
the  sould  ther  patentes.  My  grant  but  for  tenne 
years,  the  least  of  thers  continued  soe  long  :  this 
last,  if  I  had  not  louked  into  it,  would  have  donne 
15  at  the  least,  when  I  am  tyed  to  lycence  none 
but  them  (which  I  willyngly  submit  my  selfe  to  as 
long  as  your  Lo.  shall  see  it  good  for  the  reame), 
ether  can  I  not  in  tenne  yeare  passe  above 
100,000  clouthes,  or  for  so  many  as  I  dooe  I  gayne 
to  hir  Ma.  the  custom  which  heretofore  she  was- 
deceved  of,  soe  as  by  my  grant  hir  Ma.  shall  not 
only  receve  10,OOOZi,  but  be  truly  payed  hir  cus- 
tome,  which  I  doubt  not  shal  be  twyse  as  muche 
more,  for  that  which  here  tofore  she  never  receved 
any  thyng ;  for  all  the  former  grantes,  which  thus 
long  contynued,  were  certayne,  myne  (if  upon 
experience  hurtfull)  to  be  revoked,  and  I  protest 
to  your  Lo.  upon  my  soule,  I  will  as  willyngly, 
whensoe  it  is  found,  laye  it  at  hir  Maj.  feete  as  I 
dutyfull  receved  it.  All  this  consitheryd  I  hoope 
your  Lo.  will  favor  me.  Her  Maj.  hath  allwayes 
beene  gratius,  and  I  dout  not  will,  out  of  hir  owne 
disposition,  be  redy  to  favor ;  but  fearyng  howe 
she  maye  be  enformed,  I  macke  bould  to  laye  be- 
fore your  Lo.  the  truth  of  my  cause,  not  soe  much 
carying  for  the  profitt,  howe  much  soever  I  need, 


Ill 

as  for  the  disgrace  which  it  would  be  to  me,  if 
thes  men,  that  yett  never  prevaled  agaynst  any 
former  patenty,  should  nowe  tryumphe  over  me, 
whoe  only  they  mislyke,  for  that  I  will  not  see 
hir  Maj.  deceved  as  in  former  tymes  she  hathe 
beene.  I  protest  to  your  Lo.  the  losse  of  my  hoole 
estate  should  not  cum  soe  neare  my  haste  as  this 
disgrace,  which  though,  the  justnes  of  my  cause 
consithered,  I  feare  not,  yett  the  unsupportable 
burthen  that  it  would  be,  if  it  should  happen, 
trobleth  me,  and  cause th  me  thus  to  troble  your 
Lo.,  to  whoes  wyse  consideration  I  present  thes, 
only  assuryng  your  Lo.  that  if  I  contynue  in  this 
I  will  dooe  honest  and  good  servis. 

Your  Lo.  to  command, 

GEORGE  CUMBERLAND."1 

On  the  6th  of  March,  1601,  the  day  after  the 
above  communication  was  received,  Christopher 
Hudson,  in  his  official  capacity  as  governor  of  the 
Merchant  Adventurers,  dispatched  the  ensuing 
letter  to  Lord  Ellesmere.  I  have  already  briefly 
referred  to  one  of  its  paragraphs  as  containing  the 
earliest  information  which  I  have  yet  discovered 
concerning  the  writer,  Christopher  Hudson. 

1  Egerton  Papers,  Com.  Soc.  Pub.,  1840. 


112 

"  To  the  Right  Honorable  and  my  verie  good  Lord, 
the  Lord  Keeper.,  one  of  her  Majesties  most  honora- 
ble Privie  Councell,  at  the  Court,  d.  d. 
Eight  Honorable  and  my  verie  good  Lord. 
Forasmuche  as  dy vers  matters  weare  not  on  Wed- 
sondaie  last  throughlie  aunswered  so  large  as  they 
might  have  binne  in  the  behalf  of  the  Marchauntes 
Adventurers,  and  knowing  as  I  do  the  good  af- 
fection which  your  Lop.  not  onely  carry eth  to  the 
honnour  of  our  most  gracious  and  excelent  good 
Prince,  our  Saveraigne  good  Lady  Queene  and 
Empresse,  but  also  the  good  of  the  common 
wealth,  have  thought  good  for  the  discharge  of  my 
dewtie  to  make  knowne  unto  your  Honnour  so 
much  as  my  proper  experience  yeldeth  unto  me, 
as  by  these  artikles  following  unto  your  good 
Lordshipp  maie  apppeare.  And  now  to  the  fyrst 
allegation.  Wheras  it  was  said  that  before  her 
Matie  graunted  privileges  to  the  Merchantes  Ad- 
venturers in  Germanie,  all  other  Englishmen 
might  freely  passe  thither  with  their  wares  and 
commodyties,  the  which  I  graunt  to  be  true ;  but  I 
denye  that  there  was  any  traffique  inGermanyeby 
Englishmen  before  the  begyning  of  her  Maties 
raigne.  For  in  the  yeare  1554  I  came  from  Dan- 
syck  by  land,  through  all  the  maryne  townes  nere 


113 

the  sea,  except  Stoad  and  Embden,  and  found  no 
Englishmen  using  any  trade  in  them,  nor  any 
cloth  to  be  solde,  but  onely  by  the  Stylyard  men. 
As  for  the  upland  townes  in  Germanye,  it  is  well 
knowne  they  had  their  factors  and  servants  at 
Auwerp,  not  onely  to  buy  their  cloth  of  the  Com- 
pany aforesaid,  but  also  to  vent  suche  comodyties 
as  their  countrie  yelded ;  and  it  is  verie  manyfest 
that  before  the  said  Company  settled  their  trades 
at  Embden  and  Stoade  there  was  no  cloth  by  En- 
glishmen shipped  thither,  which  trade  the  Compa- 
ny fownd  out  when  they  were  in  daunger  in  the 
Loo  Countries  to  their  great  costes  and  charges, 
and  therefore  no  reason  why  others  should  have 
the  trade  from  them.  And  before  the  said  Com- 
pany weare  priviledged  in  Germanie,  the  said 
Marchantes  Adventurers  weare  at  libertie  to  ad- 
venture irfto  all  partes  within  the  Straytes  and 
Mediteranium  Sea,  and  also  into  all  partes  within 
the  East  Seas,  and  to  all  partes  of  the  Ocian  Seas, 
which  they  maie  not  do  now  by  meanes  of  new 
corporations  to  the  Company  of  New  trades,  the 
Company  of  Eastland  Marchantes,  and  to  the 
Company  of  Trypolie,  &c.,  and  therefore  no  reason 
why  they  should  be  cutt  of  from  the  trade  of 
Germanye,  which  countrie  was  alwaies  not  onely 


114 

cheeflye  fedd  with  comodyties  from  them,  but  also 
with  vent  of  the  comodyties  of  the  said  countrie 
unto  them  as  aforesaid.  And  whereas  it  was  said 
that  the  Navye  whould  be  better  maynteyned  by 
trade  further  of  then  Midlebroughe,  that  is  in 
lyke  case  trew,  yf  the  said  trade  be  not  man- 
naged  in  good  order ;  but  the  Marchauntes  Ad- 
venturers, even  to  and  for  Midlebroughe  mayn- 
teyneth  as  good  shipps  as  the  trade  at  Stoade,. 
for  they  sett  no  shipps  on  worck  for  that  place  but 
of  1500  toon  at  the  least,  and  well  appoynted. 
And  whereas  it  was  said  that  the  clothes  did  beare 
a  better  price  at  Stoade  then  at  Midlebroughe,  it 
maie  be  well  proved  that  by  the  experience  of  this 
yeare  passed  clothes  hath  been  as  well  sold  at 
Midlebroughe  as  at  Stoade ;  but  it  is  not  the  great 
pryce  of  cloth  that  is  either  good  for  her  Matie  in 
the  customes,  or  for  the  Common  Wealth  to  sett 
people  on  worck,  for  the  higher  the  price  of  cloth 
the  fewer  is  sold,  as  by  experience  appeareth ;  for 
synce  our  clothes  hath  borne  these  great  prices 
there  is  much  more  cloth  made  in  Germanie  then 
there  was  before.  And  whereas  the  Marchaunts- 
Adventurers  hath  given  thoir  generall  opinion,  that 
so  farr  fourth  as  her  Maties  Councell  shall  back 
them,  that  no  trade  where  they  be  priviledged  be 


115 


used  but  to  the  mart  towne  where  theye  sell  them- 
selves, yet  it  male  be  doubted,  yf  Thearle  of  Cum- 
berland's lycense  do  contynew,  that  it  maie  fall  out 
otherwyse,  whereof  a  reason  or  two  I  have  thought, 
good  to  sett  downe,  althoughe  there  maie  be 
objected  many  others.  For  yf  the  Merchaunt  be 
discouraged,  as  needs  he  must  yf  when  he  have 
bought  his  clothe  he  knoweth  not  at  what  rate  he 
shall  passe  it  in  the  Custom  House,  but  shall  stand 
for  the  same  at  another  man's  devotion,  and  so  to 
be  driven  to  paie  more  then  he  shall  well  knowe  ta 
gayne  by  the  sayle  thereof,  will  make  men  to 
pause  and  not  to  be  hastie  to  buy  anie  cloth  at  all.. 
In  lyke  cases  the  prices  of  course  clothes  being  by 
this  meanes  advaunced,  and  thereby  the  great 
quantitie  of  the  same  sort  of  cloth  be  made  in  Ger- 
manye,  then  the  lesse  must  needs  be  shipped  out 
of  England.  Even  so  in  lyke  case  maie  be 
imagined  when  marchaunts  shall  without  cause 
stand  at  the  devotion  of  their  enymie,  whether 
their  goods  shall  be  turmoyled  by  opening  of  their 
packs,  themselves  wrongfullie  put  into  the  Ex- 
chequer, as  late  hath  been  experymented,  which  is. 
imagined  not  to  [be]  don  without  the  practise  of 
the  deputie  of  the  said  Earle  in  the  Custom-howse, 
who  is  knowne  to  be  a  verie  enymie  to  honest  men 


116 

and  those  which  dealeth  uprightlie;  and  a  great 
freind  to  those  which  by  all  meanes  practiseth  to 
deceave  the  Company  of  their  imposytions.  And 
forasmuch  as  the  said  deputie,  and  others  his  com- 
panyons,  would  willinglie  even  now  shipp  their 
goods  to  Stoade,  notwithstanding  the  great  daunger 
there,  it  maie  be  imagined  that  they  have  some 
secreete  doinges  with  some  of  the  Haunse  Townes, 
and  the  rather  for  that  ever  synce  the  Styllyard 
was  put  downe  they  have  used  dyvers  greate  prac- 
tises to  hinder  the  quiet  and  settled  trade  of  the 
Marchaunts  Adventurers,  wherby  the  said  Haun- 
ses  have  so  obstynately  contended  :  whereas  other- 
wyse,  before  this  theye  would  have  sought  to  her 
Matie  for  an  ende  of  these  trobles,  wrongfullie  sur- 
mised by  the  said  Haunses,  practysers  to  the  greate 
hurt  of  the  Marchaunt  Adventurer.  And  thus, 
with  prayer  for  the  long  contynewance  of  your 
Honnour  ainongest  us,  in  most  humble  sorte,  I  take 
my  leave.  London,  this  6th  of  March,  1601. 
Your  Lp's.  most  humble  at  commaunde, 
CHKISTOPHER  HODDESDONN.1 


i  Egerton  Papers,  Camden  Soc.  Pub.,  London,  1840,  pages 
335,  336,  337,  338,  339,  340. 


117 

At  this  period  of  his  life  it  would  seem  that 
Christopher  Hudson  signed  his  name  as  above, 
Hoddesdonn.  Lord  Ellesmere,  in  the  endorsement 
on  the  back  of  the  letter,  drops  the  final  n,  and 
designates  him  as  "  Mr.  Hoddesdon,  Governor  of 
the  Merchant  Venturers." 

"We  have  seen  that  aside  from  his  original  powers 
of  mind,  Christopher  Hudson  undoubtedly  owed 
his  success  in  life  to  the  knowledge  and  experience 
which  he  had  gained  in  the  service  of  the  Muscovy 
or  Russia  Company ;  with  which  corporation,  more- 
over, he  continued  to  identify  himself,  by  taking  an 
active  part  in  its  consultations,  up  to  the  time  when 
our  information  concerning  him  ceases. 

I  am  not  aware  of  the  date  of  Christopher  Hud- 
son's death.  In  fact,  for  want  of  further  knowledge 
I  am  compelled  to  take  leave  of  him  at  a  most 
interesting  period,  viz:  in  1601,  while  he  is  holding 
an  office  which  confers  upon  him  great  power  and 
extensive  influence.  It  is  the  more  to  be  regretted, 
as  this  was  only  six  years  before  Henry  Hudson,  the 
discoverer  of  Delaware  and  New  York,  made  his  first 
recorded  voyage  to  the  North  in  the  employ  of  the  Mus- 
covy Company. 

Having  communicated  the  principal  portion  of 

the  information  which  I  have  obtained  respecting 
16 


118 

the  Hudson  family  and  the  Muscovy  Company,  it 
now  becomes  desirable  to  consider  the  bearing  of 
the  same  upon  the  life  and  character  of  Henry 
Hudson,  the  navigator. 

Many  of  the  observations  and  facts  contained 
in  the  preceding  pages  may  have  appeared  to  you 
to  be  wanting  in  importance,  or  in  immediate  con- 
nection with  our  subject.  I  should  share  the  same 
conviction  perhaps,  were  it  not  that  in  attempting 
to  present  an  account  of  my  investigations  and  dis- 
coveries concerning  the  several  members  of  the 
Hudson  family,  and  of  their  intimate  relations  with 
the  Muscovy  Company,  I  felt  the  importance  of 
retaining  every  item  which  might  shed  a  ray  of 
light,  even  in  the  most  indirect  way,  upon  the 
exceedingly  obscure  matter  under  discussion.  As 
it  is,  I  hope  that  I  have  enabled  you  to  reach  the 
two  following  conclusions : 

1st.  That  Henry  Hudson,  who  discovered  Dela- 
ware Bay  and  the  Hudson  Eiver  in  1609,  was  the 
descendant,  probably  the  grandson,  of  Henry  Hud- 
son, the  elder,  who  died  while  holding  the  office  of 
Alderman,  in  the  city  of  London,  in  the  year  1555. 

2d.  That   Henry    Hudson,    the    aforesaid    dis- 
coverer, received  his  early  training,  and  imbibed 
^  the  ideas  which  controlled  the  purposes  of  his  after 


119 

life,  under  the  fostering  care  of  the  great  corpora- 
tion which  his  relatives  had  helped  to  found  and 
afterwards  to  maintain. 

What  follows  will  serve,  I  trust,  to  strengthen 
these  convictions  in  the  minds  of  all. 

We  have  learned  that  London  was  the  residence 
of  Henry  Hudson  the  elder,  of  Henry  Hudson  his 
son,  and  of  Christopher  Hudson,  and  that  Captain 
Thomas  Hudson  lived  at  Limehouse,  now  a  part  of 
the  metropolis  ;  while  Thomas  Hudson,  the  friend 
of  Doctor  John  Dee,  resided  at  Mortlake,1  then  only 
six  or  seven  miles  from  the  great  city,  where  he 
likewise  spent  much  time.  By  reference  to  a  state- 
ment made  by  Abacuk  Prickett,  in  his  "Larger 
Discourse"2  it  will  be  found  that  Henry  Hudson 
the  discoverer  was  also  a  citizen  of  London,  and 
had  a  house  there.  It  is,  moreover,  safe  to  assume 


1  An  examination  of  the  records  of  Mortlake  and  the  monu- 
ments in  the  ancient  church  there,  taken  in  connection  with 
similar  researches  at  Limehouse,  eight  or  nine  miles  distant  only 
in  those  days,  or  perhaps  in  the  old  church  at  Stepney  (as  Lime- 
house  was  formerly  a  hamlet  belonging  to  Stepney,  from  which 
parish  it  was  separated  in  1730),  with  the  aid  of  the  manuscript 
records  of  the  Muscovy  Company,  will  perhaps  satisfactorily 
determine  the  exact  degrees  of  relationship  existing  between 
Thomas   Hudson  of  Mortlake,   Captain    Thomas  Hudson   of 
Limehouse,  and  Henry  Hudson  the  discoverer. 

2  Purchas,  III,  601,  London,  1625. 


120 

that  the  great  navigator  was  "born  within  the 
sound  of  Bow  bells."1 

There  is  little  room  for  doubting  that  Henry 
Hudson  was  trained  up  in  the  Muscovy  Company's 
employ.  From  the  7th  section  of  Captain  Carlile's 
argument,  to  be  found  at  page  100  of  this  address, 
it  is  evident  that  the  children  and  relatives  of  the 
influential  members  of  that  company  were  fre- 
quently in  its  employ.  It  is  also  apparent  from 
various  documents  preserved  in  Hakluyt's  first 
volume,  that  after  the  firm  establishment  of  its 
trade  with  Kussia,  the  Muscovy  Company  employed 
two  classes  of  boys,  who  were  bound,  in  accordance 
with  the  custom  of  that  period,  apprentices  for  a 
term  of  years. 

One  class   was  composed  of  lads,2  who,  having 


1  This  fact,  together  with  the  exact  year  of  his  birth,  and  the 
precise  degrees  of  relationship  which  existed  between  Henry 
Hudson  and  the  various  members  of  his  family  mentioned  in 
this  address,  will  doubtless  be  accurately  ascertained  in  the 
course  of  the  examinations  now  being  made  in  England  under 
my  directions.     The  results  of  these   researches  I  hope   to  be 
able  to  present  to  the  public  at  no  distant  day. 

2  See  Hakluyt,  I,  308.     [May  5th,  1560.]     "  We  send  you 
Nicholas  Chancelour  to  remain e  there,  who  is  our  apprentice  for 
yeeres ;  our  minde  is  hee  should  be  set  about  such  businesse  as 
he  is  most  fit  for ;  he  hath  been  kept  at  writing  schoole  long  ; 
he  hath  his  Algorisme,  and  hath  understanding  of  keeping  of 
bookes  of  reckoninge." 


121 

received  at  the  company's  expense  a  good  element- 
ary education,  were  afterwards  sent  out  to  Russia 
to  keep  accounts,  and  to  buy  and  sell  goods,  under 
the  direction  of  the  chief  agents.  Some  of  the 
most  intelligent  were  sent  "  abroad  into  the  notable 
cities  of  the  countrey  for  understanding  and  know- 
ledge," 1  and  profiting  by  their  opportunities,  became 
valuable  assistants  in  extending  the  trade,  event- 
ually attaining  important  positions 2  in  this,  or  in 
kindred  companies  ;  a  few  even  reaching  high 
official  stations  as  ambassadors  and  statesmen. 

Of  this  class  Sir  Jerome  Horsey  and  Christopher 
Hudson  were  conspicuous  examples. 

The  other  class  comprised  young  men,  also  of 
influential  connections,  whose  spirit  of  adventure 

1  The  following  occurs  in  the  Company's  letter  to  the  agents 
in  Russia,  written  in  the   spring  of  1560,    and   preserved  in 
Hakluyt,  I,  p.  299  :  'k  We  doe  send  you  in  these  ships  ten  yong 
men  that  be  bound  Prentises  to  the  Companie,  whom  we  will 
you  to  appoynt  euery  of  them  as  you  shall  there  finde  most  apt 
and  meete,  some  to  keepe  accompts,  some   to  buy  and  sell  by 
your  order  and  Commission,  and  some  to  send  abroad  into  the 
notable  Cities  of  the  Countrey  for  understanding  and  knowledge. 
And  we  will  you  send  us  aduertisement  from  time  to  time  as 
well  of  the  demeanours  of  our  Prentises  which  we  doe  send  now, 
as  also  of  such  other  as  bee  already  there  with  you.     And  if 
you  finde  any  of  them  remiss,   negligent,  or  otherwise  misuse 
themselues  and  will  not  be  ruled,  that  then  you  doe  send  him 
home,  and  the  cause  why." 

2  See  Hakluyt,  I,  307. 


122 

and  love  for  the  sea  induced  their  friends  to  place 
them  as  apprentices  on  board  the  Company's  ves- 
sels to  learn  the  art  of  navigation.  This  fact  is 
thus  referred  to  in  the  rare  tract  entitled  Tlie 
Trades  Increase,  printed  at  London  in  the  year 
1615  :  "  the  fleet  that  went  ordinarily  thitherward 
[to  Eussia]  entertained  three  or  four  novices  in  a 
ship,  and  so  bred  them  up  seamen,  which  might 
make  up  the  whole  happily  some  foure-score  men 
yearly,  *  *  then  there  were  some  five  hundred 
mariners  and  sailors  employed  withal." l  The  same 
authority  informs  us  that  originally  seventeen  ships 
of  great  burthen  were  yearly  sent  to  Muscovy,  and 
we  know  from  Christopher  Hudson's  letter  to  the 
Emperor  of  Russia, 2  that  a  fleet  of  thirteen  armed 
ships  belonging  to  the  Company  were  sent  to  the 
Narve  in  1570.  The  following  directions  occur  in 
the  "  Instructions  given  to  the  Masters  and  Mari- 
ners" of  the  fleet  in  the  year  1577 : 

"  Item,  that  notes  and  entries  be  daily  made  of 


1 "  The  Trades  Increase,  London,  printed  by  Nicholas  Okes, 
and  are  to  be  sold  by  Walter  Burre,  1615,  4°,  containing  62 
pages."  Harleian  Miscellany,  vol.  Ill,  p.  300. 

The  title  of  this  tract  was  probably  taken  from  the  name  of 
the  great  ship  built  by  the  East  India  Company,  and  christened 
by  King  James  I,  on  the  30th  Dec.,  1609. 

2  See  ante,  page  84. 


123 

their  Navigations  put  in  writing  and  memory, 
and  that  the  yong  Mariners  and  apprentices  may 
be  taught  and  caused  to  learne  and  obserue  the 
same. 

"  It  is  accorded  that  the  said  Captaine  shall  haue 
the  principall  rule  and  gouernement  of  the  appren- 
tices ;  And  that  not  onely  they,  but  also  all  other 
the  sailers,  shal  be  attendant  and  obedient  to  him, 
as  of  dutie  and  reason  appertaineth. 

"  *  *  *  Item,  that  the  Captaine  by  discretion 
shall  from  time  to  time  disship  any  artificer  or 
English  seruingman  or  apprentice  out  of  the  Prim- 
rose into  any  of  the  other  three  ships,  and  in  lieu 
of  him  or  them,  take  any  such  apprentice  as  he 
shall  thinke  conuenient  and  most  meete  to  serue 
the  benefite  of  the  companie."1 

Under  this  discipline  Captain  Thomas  Hudson, 
William  Burrough,  Arthur  Pet  and  Charles  Jack- 
man  acquired  experience  and  laid  the  foundations 
of  their  future  success.  What  more  natural  than 
that  Henry  Hudson,  whose  family  connections  were 
foremost  in  the  management  of  the  Muscovy  Com- 
pany's affairs,  should  be  permitted  in  like  manner 


i  Hakluyt,  I,  295,  296. 

The  names  of  the  vessels  of  this  fleet,  with  their  tunnage 
and  the  commander  of  each,  will  be  found  at  page  297. 


124 

to  derive  every  advantage  which  such  a  school 
could  afford  to  one  emulous  of  success  as  a  navi- 
gator ?  This  theory  affords  a  clue  to  the  origin 
of  the  great  motives  which  controlled  Hudson 
throughout  his  later  career.  We  are  substantially 
told  by  a  "  cloud  of  witnesses  "  that  the  discovery  of 
a  north-eastern  or  north-western  passage  to  China 
and  the  East  Indies  was  the  darling  object  of  Hud- 
son's ambition  :  that  in  this  all-absorbing  thought 
lay  the  secret  of  his  remarkable  voyages  and  val- 
uable discoveries.  Was  it  not  for  the  attainment 
of  this  very  end  that  the  Muscovy  or  Russia  Com- 
pany was  organized  ? 

Educated  with  a  view  to  his  future  life,  and  bred 
in  the  Company's  service,  cruising  in  its  ships, 
and  gaining  knowledge  from  the  most  skilful  Cap- 
tains, his  mind  was  from  earliest  youth  familiar 
with  the  aims  and  objects  of  this  powerful  com- 
mercial body.  What  wonder  that  the  lessons  of 
early  boyhood  sunk  deep  into  Hudson's  mind ;  or 
that  the  desire  to  solve  what  he  had  been  taught 
to  consider  the  great  problem  of  his  age,  should 
afterwards  become  the  master-passion  of  his  ma- 
turer  years  ? 

It  would  appear  from  "  Certain  Instructions 
delivered  in  the  third  voyage  Anno  1556,  for 


125 

Russia," l  that  the  Pursers  on  board  the  Muscovy 
Company's  ships  were  obliged  to  keep  books  in 
which  were  registered  the  names  of  every  man  and 
boy,  officers  as  well  as  common  sailors,  in  each 
particular  vessel.  If  these  books  are  still  in  exist- 
ence they  would  prove  valuable  assistants  in  verify- 
ing much  that  I  have  stated.  The  fact  that  we  first 
meet  with  Henry  Hudson  in  the  employ  of  the 
Muscovy  Company  also  confirms  my  views  as  to 
his  early  training.  It  is  likewise  especially  to  be 
noted,  that  of  the  four  voyages  of  Henry  Hudson, 
of  which  we  know  any  thing,  the  first  two  were 
made  for  the  Muscovy  Company,  while  the  fourth 
and  last  was  set  on  foot  by  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  at 
that  time  Chief  Governor  of  the  Muscovy  Company. 2 
That  Henry  Hudson  belonged  to  a  prominent 
family,  was  peculiarly  esteemed  by  the  Muscovy 
Company,  and  had  interest  at  court,  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  vessels  were  sent  out  to  search 


1  Hakluyt,  I,  272,  273. 

2  See  Purchas   His   Pilgrimage,  p.  817.     This  is  the  first 
time  that  this  fact  has  been   noticed  by  investigators  of  the 
life  of  Hudson.     Sir  Thomas  Smith,  Sir  Dudley  Digges,  and 
Master  John  Wostenholme,  are  specially  mentioned  by  Purchas 
as  furtherers  of  this  voyage.     That  Smith  was  then  governor 
of  the  Muscovy  Company  may  be  seen  from  Purchas  III,  699, 
711,  713,  716,  728,  731.     For  names  of  his  other  employers, 
see  Hakluyt  Soc.  Pub.,  1860,  p.  255. 

17 


126 

for  him  in  1612  by  order  of  Henry,  Prince  of 
Wales,  and  the  Russia  Company.1  His  personal 
influence  is  further  illustrated  by  the  remark  of 
Prickett,2  who  says,  that  in  his  last  voyage,  Hud- 
son promised  on  his  return  home  to  have  Henrie 
Green  made  one  of  the  Prince's  Guard. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  Captain  John  Smith's 
acquaintance  with  Henry  Hudson  commenced 
before  the  year  1607,  which  as  we  have  seen,  is 
the  earliest  period  in  which  mention  is  made  of 
Hudson  by  Purchas.  Van  Meteren,  the  Dutch 
Consul  resident  in  London,  who  knew  Hudson  well, 
speaks  of  the  friendship  existing  between  Hudson 
and  Captain  John  Smith  prior  to  the  former's  voyage 
in  1609.3  Now  Smith  was  in  London  in  1604,  link- 
ing his  fortunes  with  those  of  Bartholomew  Gosnold, 
Sir  Thomas  Gates,  Sir  George  Somers,  Richard  Hak- 
luyt,  Ralegh  Gilbert,  Edward  Maria  Wingfield  and 
others.  Dec.  19th,  1606,4  he  set  sail  from  Blackwall, 
and  did  not  return  to  England  until  three  years  later. 
It  is  probable  that  Hudson  and  Smith  were  thrown 


1  See  2d  Latin  edition  of  The  Hudson   Tract,  published  at 
Amsterdam,  by  Hessel  Gerritsz.     For  translation  see  HaJduyt 
Soc.  Pub.,  1860. 

2  Larger  Discourse,  Purchas,  III,  601. 

3  Van  Meteren's  Historic  der  Nederlanderen,  Hague,  1614. 
For  translation  see  Hakluyt  Soc.  Pub.,  1860,  p.  148. 

4  Stith's  Mist.  Virginia,  Book  II,  p.  44. 


127 

together  in  London  during  the  first  interval  referred 
to,  on  account  of  their  similar  tastes  and  mutual 
acquaintances.  For  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that 
many  of  the  prominent  members  and  captains  of  the 
Muscovy  Company  were  also  interested  in  the  set- 
tlement of  Virginia.  Among  these  were  Sir  Thomas 
Smith,  Sir  Dudley  Digges,  Captain  Thomas  Button, 
John  Merrick,  Kichard  Chamberlayne,  Kichard 
Staper,  Arthur  Pet,  Thomas  Gerrard,  William 
Barnes,  and  John  Hudson.1  The  two  latter  were 
undoubtedly  connections  of  Henry  Hudson.  Wil- 
liam Barnes,  (afterwards  a  Baronet),  son  of  Sir 
George  Barnes  2d,  has  already  been  noticed  at 
page  81;  and  I  believe  this  John  Hudson  to  be 
the  identical  John  Hudson  mentioned  at  page  45, 
as  the  unmarried  son  of  Henry  Hudson  the  elder. 
For  we  learn  from  several  letters2  that  John  Hud- 
son (the  son  of  Henry  Hudson,  the  elder,  founder 
and  first  assistant  of  the  Muscovy  Company)  was 
alive  as  late  as  1618.  Admiral  Sir  William  Mon- 


1  Stith's  Hist.  Virginia,  App.,  pp.  9-14.  J.  Hudson's  name 
is  here  spelled  Hodgson. 

*  Calendars  of  State  Papers,  Domestic  Series,  of  the  Reign  of 
James  I.  I  regret  extremely  that  I  have  only  had  access  to  an 
odd  volume  of  this  series  ;  and  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  find 
in  any  Library  the  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Domestic  Series,  of 
the  reigns  of  Edward  VI,  Mary  and  Elizabeth. 


128 

son,1  who  speaks  in  his  Naval  Tracts  in  high  terms 
of  Hudson,  was  also  one  of  the  Adventurers  to 
Virginia.     Another   of    Henry   Hudson's  friends, 
Richard   Hakluyt,    prebendary   of    Westminster, 
was  the  chief  promoter  of  the  petition  addressed 
to  King  James  in  the  year  1606,  praying  that  he 
would  grant  patents   for  the  colonization  of  Vir- 
ginia.    It  is  from  Hakluyt's   famous    Voyages  that 
we  have  learned  so  much  respecting  the   earlier 
members  of  the  Hudson   family,   and  it  was  to 
Hakluyt   that  Purchas   was   indebted   for  much 
information   concerning   Henry   Hudson    himself. 
Hudson  evinced  his  esteem  for  Hakluyt  as  early  as 
1607,  when  he  named  a  promontory,  which  he  had 
discovered,  after  him.     Hakluyt2  was  also  the  inti- 
mate of  Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  Sir  Eobert  Cecil, 
the  Lord  High  Admiral  Howard,  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 
Sir  Francis  Drake,  and  many  other  distinguished 
men. 

We  know  that  in  1601,  Christopher  Hudson 
was  governor  of  the  Merchant  Adventurers, 
which  at  that  time,  according  to  contemporary 
testimony,  included  more  than  half  of  all  the 


1  Sir  William  Monson's  Naval  Tracts,  Book  IV.     Churchill's 
Voyages,  Vol.  3d,  pp.  386,  387. 

2  For  sketch  of  Hakluyt  see  appendix. 


129 

wealthy  traders  of  London,  York,  Norwich,  Exe- 
ter, Ipswich,  Newcastle,  Hull,  and  the  other  chief 
commercial  towns.  It  is  possible  that  about  this 
period,  for  a  short  interval,  Henry  Hudson  may 
have  been  a  captain  in  this  corporation's  employ. 
I  have  examined  all  the  authorities  to  which  I 
have  had  access,  to  ascertain  whether  he  was  en- 
gaged in  the  Turkey  Company,  which  began  in 
1581;  the  Morocco  Company,  which  originated  in 
1585;  the  Guinea  Company,  which  arose  in  1588; 
or  whether  he  sailed  in  the  employ  of  the  "  Gov- 
ernor and  company  of  Merchants  of  London  trading 
into  the  East  Indies"  who  were  incorporated  by 
royal  charter  on  the  last  day  of  the  year  1600.1 
I  have  found  nothing  to  indicate  his  connection 
with  either  of  the  first  three  of  these  companies. 

The  English  East  India  Company,  however, 
engaged  with  the  Muscovy  Company  in  dispatch- 
ing Henry  Hudson  on  his  last  voyage  to  the  North 
in  16 10.2  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  already  referred  to 
as  being  the  governor  of  the  Muscovy  Company, 
was  at  the  same  time  governor  of  the  East  India 


1  Ealduyt  Soc.  Pub.,  London,  1855,  p.  i. 

2  See  Charter  granted  to  the  Merchants  Discoverers  of  the 
North  West   Passage,    July  26th,  1612.     Hakluyt  Soc.  Pub., 
London,  1860,  p.  255. 


130 

Company,  and  this  was  only  one  of  a  number  of 
instances  in  which  the  two  companies,  while  under 
his  guidance,  united  in  a  common  enterprise.  The 
Trades  Increase  alludes  to  the  close  connection 
existing  between  the  two  associations,1  and  Pur- 
«has  confirms  this  view.  At  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  owing  to  the  rival  enterprise  of 
the  Dutch,  the  trade  with  Kussia2  had  greatly 
diminished,  and  the  Muscovy  Company  again 
turned  its  attention  more  especially  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  object  (the  discovery  of  a  north- 
ern passage  to  India)  which  it  was  originally  or- 
ganized to  promote.  Many  of  its  most  influential 
members  were  the  originators  of  the  East  India 
Company  (in  1600),3  and  it  was  most  natural  that 
the  two  bodies  should  frequently  unite  in  sending 


1  The  Trades  Increase,  London,  1615.  Harl.  Misc.,  vol.  Ill, 
pp.  291,  292. 

2 1  regret  that  I  have  been  unable  to  consult  England  and 
Russia,  by  Dr.  J.  Haniel,  referred  to  by  Mr.  Bond  as  "  trans- 
lated by  J.  S.  Leigh,  London,  1854 ; "  although  "  this  valuable 
treatise  only  extends  to  the  year  1576." 

3  A  comparison  of  the  lists  of  the  prominent  members  of  the 
Muscovy  Company  preserved  in  Purchas,  with  the  names  of 
the  principal  originators  of  the  East  India  Company,  led  me  to 
think  that  the  latter  company  was  an  offshoot  of  the  former. 
An  examination  of  The  Trades  Increase,  printed  in  1615,  and 
other  contemporary  authorities  had  convinced  me  as  to  the  cor- 


131 

out  expeditions  to  make  discoveries  mutually 
beneficial.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  re- 
cords of  the  East  India  Company  might  furnish 
some  additional  facts  in  the  life  of  Henry  Hudson. 
Stow  illustrates  the  intimate  relations  existing 
between  several  of  the  most  powerful  trading 
companies  of  that  period  when  he  says :  The 
first  Governour  of  this  [East  India]  Company 
named  and  ordained  both  in  the  first  and  last 
pattent  was  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  knight,  who  is 
also  Governor  of  the  Muscovy  Company^  and 
President  and  Treasurer  of  the  Company  and 
Counsell  for  Virginia."1 

Thus  we  see  that  many  of  the  foremost  men  of 


rectness  of  this  belief.  In  December  1614,  Sir  Thomas  Smith, 
governor  of  the  East  India  Company,  reminded  the  Court  of 
Committees  of  that  corporation,  "  that  three  yeares  since  this 
Coumpanie  did  aduenture  £800,  p.  annum  for  three  yeares 
towardes  the  discoury  of  the  Northwest  passage."  See  Run- 
dall's  Voyages  to  the  North-  West,  Hakluyt  Soc.  Pub.,  London, 
1849,  page  96. 

iStow's  English  Chronicle,  London,  1618,  pp.  509,  510.— 
Sir  Thomas  Smith  was  Treasurer  from  the  first  constitution  of 
the  Company  (of  Virginia)  in  1606,  till  April  28th,  1619. 
And  in  that  time  there  had  passed  through  his  hands  about 
£80,000.  Stith's  Hist.  Virginia,  book  III,  p.  186.— Sir  Thos. 
Smith  had  also  been  Governor  of  the  Somers  Islands  Company. 
Same,  p.  189. —  Sir  Thomas  Smith  died  Sept.  4th,  1625.  He 
is  mentioned  as  Thomas  Smith,  Esquire,  one  of  the  principal 


132 


that  age  were  warmly  interested  at  the  same 
time  in  several  different  influential  companies ;  so 
that  a  skilful  and  experienced  navigator  in  the 
service  of  one  powerful  corporation  would  be  al- 
most equally  well  known  to  the  members  of  con- 
temporary associations.  In  this  way  Henry  Hud- 
son, in  addition .  to  the  fame  acquired  by  his 
remarkable  discoveries,  would  also  possess  a 
"national  reputation"  as  a  gallant  and  successful 
commander  in  the  Muscovy  Company's  employ ; 
owing  to  the  countless  ramifications  of  these  great 
commercial  bodies,  whose  members  were  to  be 
found  in  every  city  throughout  the  kingdom. 

The  position  of  his  kinsman  Christopher  Hud- 
son, as  the  head  of  the  Merchant  Adventurers, 
who  had  long  maintained  most  intimate  relations 
with  Germany  and  the  Netherlands,  may  have 
been  among  the  earliest  means  of  attracting 
towards  Henry  Hudson  the  attention  of  the 
Dutch,  whose  efforts  had  also  of  late  been  turned 
to  the  discovery  of  a  shorter  passage  to  India  by 
the  north.  His  subsequent  brilliant  services  and 
voyages  to  the  north  would  strengthen  in  the 


members  of  the  Muscovy  Co.,  as  early  as  Feb.,  1587,  in  the 
letter  of  privileges  granted  by  the  Emperor  of  Russia  at  that 
time  to  the  Muscovy  Company. 


133 

minds  of  the  leading  merchants  and  capitalists  of 
Holland,  the  conviction  that  Henry.  Hudson  pos- 
sessed the  courage,  experience  and  genius  requisite 
to  aid  them  in  developing  and  carrying  into  execu- 
tion plans  which  might  lead  to  the  realization  of 
their  hopes. 

The  first  recorded  voyage  made  by  Henry  Hud- 
son was  undertaken,  as  we  have  already  observed, 
for  the  Muscovy  or  Russia  Company.  Departing 
from  Gravesend  the  first  of  May,  1607,  with  the 
intention  of  sailing  straight  across  the  north  pole, 
by  the  north  of  what  is  now  called  Greenland, 
Hudson  found  that  this  land  stretched  further  to 
the  eastward  than  he  had  anticipated,  and  that  a 
wall  of  ice,  along  which  he  coasted,  extended  from 
Greenland  to  Spitzbergen.  Forced  to  relinquish 
the  hope  of  finding  a  passage  in  the  latter  vicinity, 
he  once  more  attempted  the  entrance  of  Da  vis's 
Straits  by  the  north  of  Greenland.  This  design 
was  also  frustrated  and  he  apparently  renewed  the 
attempt  in  a  lower  latitude  and  nearer  Greenland 
on  his  homeward  voyage.1  In  this  cruise  Hudson 
attained  a  higher  degree  of  latitude  than  any  pre- 

1  See  P«rc7ms,  III,  580.  Also  Dr,  Asher,  in  Hakluyt  /Sbc, 
Pub.,  1860,  to  whom  much  is  dtie  on  account  of  his  efforts  to 
identify  accurately  the  precise  localities  visited  by  Hudson. 

18 


134 


vious  navigator.  He  also  remarked  the  changing 
color  of  the  sea  in  the  neighborhood  of  Spitsbergen, 
and  first  noted  the  amelioration  of  the  temperature 
in  his  northward  progress.  His  observations  as  to 
the  abundance  of  whales  and  <  morses '  in  those 
waters,  by  directing  attention  to  that  source  of 
profit,  laid  the  foundations  of  the  future  prosperity 
of  Spitzbergen.  My  space  will  not  permit  the 
enumeration  of  Hudson's  other  important  discov- 
eries in  this  expedition  in  1607.  He  Breached 
England  on  his  return  on  the  loth  September  of 
that  year. 

Having  the  researches  of  previous  writers  be- 
fore them,  both  Mr.  Murphy,  in  his  Henry  Hudson 
in  Holland^  and  Dr.  Asher,  in  Henry  Hudson,  the 
Navigator,  are  agreed  that  the  journal  of  this  voy- 
age, contains  the  earliest  information  concerning 
Hudson's  career.  Indeed  the  latter  says  :  "  His 
[Henry  Hudson's]  doings  before  the  19th  April, 
1607,  his  family  connections,  his  social  position 
are  equally  unknown  to  us."2  Both  authors  place 


1  Henry  Hudson  in  Holland.  By  Henry  C.  Murphy.  The 
Hague,  the  Brothers  Giunta  D'Albani,  1859.  Privately 
printed.  —  Preface  dated  April  15th,  1859. 

3  Henry  Hudson,  the  Navigator.  By  Gr.  M.  Asher,  LL.D. 
Hakluyt  Soc.  Pul.,  London,  I860. 


135 

no  reliance  whatever  upon  the  testimony  of 
Adrian  Yan  der  Donck,  whose  inaccuracies,  and 
tissues  of  idle  inventions,  are  indeed  patent  to 
all  acquainted  with  the  origin  and  purposes  of  his 
works.1 

In  view  of  the  results  developed  by  my  investi- 
gations respecting  Henry  Hudson  and  his  antece- 
dents, the  journal  of  this  voyage  no  longer  retains 
importance  as  the  starting  point  in  Hudson's 
history. 

On  the    twenty-second  of  April,    1608,   Henry  .  / 
Hudson  commenced  his  second  recorded  voyage  for 
the  Muscovy  or  Russia  Company,  with  the  design 


1  This  view  of  Van  der  Donck's  statements  comes  with  pe- 
culiar force  from  Mr.  Murphy,whose  investigations, in  connection 
with  his  translation  of  the  Vertoog  Van  Niew  Nederland,  and 
his  other  qualifications,  would  enable  to  judge  most  accurately 
as  to  Van  der  Donck's  reliability.  The  passage  in  which  Van 
der  Donck  refers  to  Hudson's  antecedents  is  as  follows  :  "  This 
country  [New  Netherland]  was  first  found  and  discovered  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  1609  ;  when,  at  the  cost  of  the  privileged 
East  India  Company,  a  ship  named  the  Half  Moon  was  fitted 
out  to  discover  a  westerly  passage  to  the  kingdom  of  China- 
This  ship  was  commanded  by  Henry  Hudson,  as  captain  and 
supercargo,  who  was  an  Englishman  by  birth,  but  had  resided 
many  years  in  Holland,  and  was  in  the  employment  of  the 
East  India  Company."  BescJiryvinge  Van  Niew  Nederlandt. 
4to.  Amsterdam,  1656.  See  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  New 
Series,  vol.  I,  and  Hak.  Soc.  Pub.,  1860,  p.  158. 


136 

of  '  finding  a  passage  to  the  East  Indies  by  the 
north-east.'1 

He  had  with  him  his  son  John  Hudson  and 
James  Skrutton  or  Strutton,  who  had  sailed  with 
him  the  previous  year.  John  Cooke,  who  had  also 
been  one  of  the  crew  in  1607,  now  went  in  the 
capacity  of  boatswain.  Robert  Juet,  of  Lime- 
house,  who  afterward  accompanied  him  in  his  two 
last  voyages,  and  finally  basely  conspired  against 
him,  now  first  appears  upon  the  scene  as  second  in 
command  and  mate.  Ludlowe  Arnall,  or  '  Arnold 
Lodlo,'  as  Pricket t  styles  him,  destined  to  share 
Hudson's  tragic  fate  three  years  later,  also  shipped 
for  this  cruise,  as  did  Michael  Pierce,  one  of  the 
traitors  in  the  4th  voyage  who  perished  miserably. 

The  name  of  Humfrey  Gilby  likewise  occurs  in 
the  list  of  sailors  preserved  in  Purchas.  Having 
discovered  the  intimate  relations  which  existed 
between  Sir  Humphrey  (or  Sir  Humfrey,  as  Hak- 
luyt  calls  him)  Gilbert  and  Christopher  Hudson, 
it  has  occurred  to  me  as  not  improbable  that  the 
above  is  one  of  the  many  instances  of  misspelling 
or  misprinting  continually  met  with  —  both  in 
Hakluy  t  and  Purchas,  and  that  the  person  referred 


1  Purchas,  III,  p.  574. 


137 

to  was  in  reality  named  Huinfrey  Gilbert,  and 
belonged  to  the  family  of  the  great  voyager.  This 
conjecture  seems  the  more  reasonable  as  Sir  Hum- 
phrey Gilbert  is  known  to  have  left  nine  sons.1 

On  the  third  of  June,  1608,  Hudson  had  reached 
the  most  northern  point  of  Norway,  and  on  the 
llth  was  in  latitude  75°  24',  between  Spitzbergen 
and  Nova  Zembla.  Four  days  later  he  records  the 
following  curious  incident  which  affords  a  glimpse 
of  the  love  of  the  marvellous  that  has  distinguished 
sailors  of  all  ages  and  of  every  clime.  On  the  15th 
of  June  he  writes  :  "  This  morning  one  of  our  com- 
panie  looking  over  boord  saw  a  Mermaid?  and  call- 
ing  up  some  of  the  coinpanie  to  see  her,  one  more 
came  up,  and  by  that  time  shee  was  come  close 
to  the  ships  side,  looking  earnestly  on  the  men : 
a  little  after,  a  Sea  came  and  overturned  her :  from 
the  Navill  upward,  her  backe  and  breasts  were  like 
a  womans,  (as  they  say  that  saw  her)  her  body  as 
big  as  one  of  us ;  her  skin  very  white ;  and  long 
haire  hanging  downe  behind,  of  colour  blacke  :  in 
her  going  downe  they  saw  her  tayle,  which  was  like 


1  Prince's    Worthies  of  Devon. 

2  A  curious    print  of  a  mermaid   is  preserved  in  De  Bry. 
Decimse  Tertise  Partis  Americx  Sectio  Prima,  page  4,  edition 
of  1634. 


138 

the  tayle  of  a  Porposse,  and  speckled  like  a  Macrell. 
Their  names  that  saw  her,  were  Thomas  Hilles  and 
Robert  Rayner"  1 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to  do  more  than 
simply  refer  to  Hudson's  attempts  to  pass  to  the 
north-east  beyond  Nova  Zembla;  to  his  return 
southwards  along  the  islands  of  which  the  group 
consists,  and  to  his  numerous  observatious  up  to 
the  time  of  his  arrival  in  England.  To  the-  con- 
cluding passage,  however,  in  Hudson's  journal  of 
this  voyage,  I  wish  to  call  your  particular  atten- 
tion, as  it  illustrates  the  remarks  made  at  pages 
53  and  54  of  this  discourse,  and  will  also  aid  us 
in  our  enquiries  concerning  his  next  voyage.  "  The 
seventh  of  August"  he  says,  "I  used  all  diligence 
to  arrive  at  London,  and  therefore  now  I  gave  my 
companie  a  certificate  under  my  hand,  of  my  free 
and  willing  returne,  without  perswasion  or  force  of 
any  one  or  more  of  them ;  for  at  my  being  at  Nova 
Zembla,  the  sixt  of  July,  voide  of  hope  of  a  north-east 
passage  (except  by  the  Yaygats,  for  which  I  was 
not  fitted  to  trie  or  prove),  /  therefore  resolved  to 
use  all  meanes  I  could  to  sayle  to  the  north-west ;  con- 
sidering the  time  and  meanes  wee  had,  if  the  wind 


Purchas,  III,  p.  575. 


139 

should  friend  us,  as  in  the  first  part  of  our  voyage 
it  had  done,  and  to  make  triall  of  that  place  called 
Lumleys  Inlet,  and  the  furious  overfall  l>y  Captain 
Davis,  hoping  to  runne  into  it  an  hundred  leagues, 
and  to  returne  as  God  should  enable  mee.  But 
now  having  spent  more  then  halfe  the  time  I  had, 
and  gone  but  the  shortest  part  of  the  way,  by 
meanes  of  contrary  winds,  I  thought  it  my  duty 
to  save  Victuall,  Wages  and  Tackle,  by  my  speedy 
returne,  and  not  by  foolish  rashnesse,  the  time 
being  wasted,  to  lay  more  charge  upon  the  action 
then  necessitie  should  compell,  I  arrived  at  Graves- 
end  [England]  the  six  and  twentieth  of  August, 
[1608]." l 

Henry  Hudson's  previous  discoveries  had  already 
rendered  him  famous,  and  his  safe  return  from 
another  perilous  voyage  to  the  north  was  hailed 
in  England  with  deep  interest  and  satisfaction. 
The  results  of  his  explorations  soon  spread  to  the 
continent,  where  they  were  received  with  even 
greater  curiosity,  and  aroused  the  fears  of  the  Dutch 
East  India  Company  then  recently  established, 
We  are  accordingly  not  surprised  to  learn  from  the 
Negotiations  of  President  Jeannin,  that  Hudson 


iPurchas,  III,  p.  580. 


140 

was  soon  called  to  Holland  by  the  directors  of  that 
corporation  at  Amsterdam. 

In  order  to  obtain  a  clear  idea  of  the  reasons  for 
this  step,  it  will  be  necessary  to  glance  at  the  con- 
nection of  the  Dutch  with  the  discovery  of  a  north- 
ern passage  to  India. 

We  have  already  reviewed  the  northern  disco- 
veries made  by  the  English,  commencing  wjth  Rich- 
ard Chancellor's  successful  expedition  in  1553,  and 
we  shall  now  see  how  closely  they  were  followed 
ultimately  in  their  enterprises  by  the  sagacious 
and  energetic  Hollanders.  As  early  as  1578  the 
Dutch  were  trading  with  Russia;  and  Captain 
Edge  testifies  that  a  year  or  two  later,  '  one  John 
de  Whale,  a  Netherlander,  came  to  the  Bay  of 
Saint  Nicholas,  being  drawne  thither  by  the  per- 
swasion  of  some  English  for  their  better  means  of 
interloping.' l  Sir  Jerome  Bowes,  who  was  the 
ambassador  from  Queen  Elizabeth  to  the  Czar, 
writing  in  1583,  says  :  "The  Dutch  merchants  had 
intruded  themselves  to  trade  into  those  countreys, 
notwithstanding  a  privilege  of  the  sole  trade  thither 
was  long  before  granted  to  the  English  merchants."2 


1  Purchas,  III,  p.  464. 

2  Hakhiyt,  I,  p.  459. 


141 

Indeed  in  the  month  of  April  of  the  same  year, 
Captain  Carlile  had  taken  occasion  to  urge  as  a 
powerful  argument  in  favor  of  Gilbert's  American 
enterprise,  that  the  Netherlanders  were  interfering 
sadly  with  the  Muscovy  Company's  Russian  trade.1 

Having  secured  to  themselves  influence  at  the 
court  of  Moscow,  and  thus  gained  a  foothold  in 
Russia,  the  Dutch,  still  following  the  example  of 
the  English,  began  to  turn  their  attention  to  the 
rich  countries  lying  far  to  the  eastward,  and  like- 
wise became  interested  in  attempts  to  discover  a 
short  northern  passage  to  China,  and  the  Indian 
seas. 

In  1580-81,  Oliver  Brunei,  a  Belgian  refugee, 
captured  by  the  Russians  while  serving  in  the 
Swedish  army,  was  employed  to  explore  the  whole 
coast,  from  the  river  Petchora  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Oby,  by  two  Russian  merchants,  whose  curiosity 
had  been  aroused  by  the  efforts  of  the  Muscovy 
Company.  Brunei  successfully  accomplished  the 

undertaking,  visiting  likewise  Vaygats  and  Nova 

— . **• 

Zembla_Proper.  He  afterwards  went  to  Enkhuy- 
sen,  a  town  in  West  Friesland,  on  the  borders  of 
Holland,  where  his  representations  procured  him 
the  command  of  a  vessel,  in  which  he  undertook  a 

1  See  Ante,  p.  98. 

19 


142 

voyage  to  the  Petehora.  Here,  it  is  said,  he  col- 
lected much  merchandise,  but  eventually  lost  his 
ship,  and  perhaps  his  life. 

Brunei's  explorations  may  be  considered  as  the 
suggestive  origin  of  the  northern  voyages  subse- 
quently prosecuted  by  the  Dutch.  The  edict  of 
Philip  II,  lately  become  master  of  Portugal,  by 
cutting  off  their  intercourse  with  Lisbon,  and 
depriving  them  of  their  trade  in  eastern  produc- 
tions, soon,  however,  furnished  the  Netherlanders 
with  an  additional  incentive  to  seek  their  riches 
from  original  sources.  The  discovery  of  a  short 
passage  to  the  Indies  by  the  north,  offered  one 
obvious  means  of  defeating  the  machinations  of 
their  treacherous  enemy,  and,  if  successfully  inau- 
gurated, might  prove  a  certain  road  to  commercial 
greatness.  Accordingly,  the  same  year  that  wit- 
nessed the  preliminary  organization  of  a  company 
in  the  United  Provinces,  to  attempt  the  establish- 
ment of  a  trade  with  the  East  Indies  by  the  Cape 

of  Good  Hope,  also  beheld  William  Barentson  and 

•4 
his  brave  companions  actually  setting  forth  upon 

their  first  voyage,  to  discover  a  north-eastern  open- 
ing to  the  Chinese  seas. 

The  expedition  thus  dispatched  in  1594,  owed 
its  original  conception  to  Balthasar  de  Moucheron, 


143 

a  native  of  Antwerp  of  noble  descent,  who  had 
long  resided  as  a  merchant  at  Veere,  near  Mid- 
delburg,  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Zealand. 
Having  interested  several  officials  of  Enkhuysen 
and  Middelburg  in  his  plans,  he  had  obtained  the 
assistance  of  the  courts  of  admiralty,  as  well  as 
the  sanction  of  the  higher  authorities,  to  fit  out 
two  vessels,  each  of  one  hundred  tons  burthen,  for 
northern  explorations.  Cornelis  Nai  and  Brant 
Tetgales,  both  Enkhuysen  men,  were  placed  in 
command,  while  the  famous  John  Hugh  van  Lin- 
schoten  was  chosen  to  accompany  them  in  the 
responsible  capacity  of  commercial  agent  and 
commissioner.  The  public  spirit  of  the  city  of 
Amsterdam  was  aroused  by  these  proceedings,  and 
through  the  efforts  of  Peter  Plantius,  'the  Hak- 
luyt  of  the  Netherlands/  a  third  vessel  was 
equipped,  and  committed  to  William  Barentson 
for  a  similar  purpose.  The  three  ships  set  sail 
from  the  Texel  together,  on  the  5th  June,  1594, 
and  returned  in  company  to  Holland  about  the 
middle  of  September,  having  failed  to  accomplish 
what  they  had  hoped  to  achieve;  although  the 
Enkhuysen  party  had  penetrated  through  Pet's 
strait  to  the  Kara  sea,  while  Barentson  had  sailed 
completely  around  the  north-eastern  extremity  of 


144 


Nova  Zembla,  and  discovered  a  group  of  islands, 
which  he  named  the  Orange  islands. 

The  further  exertions  of  Barentson  and  Jacob 
van  Heemskerk  in  the  two  following  years,  were 
alike  unsuccessful,  so  far  as  the  great  object  of 
their  search  was  concerned.  The  premature  death 
of  the  former  intrepid  and  skilful  mariner,  who 
perished  in  the  midst  of  his  plans,  on  the  20th  of 
June,  1597,  most  effectually  damped  the  ardor 
of  the  Dutch,  and  led  to  the  temporary  abandon- 
ment of  their  schemes  in  this  direction. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  commerce  with  Russia 
was  immensely  increased,  and  the  Netherlanders 
had  become  such  powerful  rivals  as  almost  to 
supplant  and  exclude  the  English.1  Houtman, 
the  brewer's  son,  also,  having  doubled  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  returned  to  Amsterdam  in  1597, 
bringing  with  him  the  rarest  products  of  the  east. 
Thus  the  foundations  of  the  great  Indian  trade 
were  finally  laid,  and  companies  sprang  into  exist- 
ence all  over  Holland,  eager  to  participate  in  the 
almost  fabulous  profits  accruing  from  this  new 
source  of  wealth. 

The  discontent  produced  by  the  unequal  for- 
tunes attending  the  efforts  of  rival  associations, 

iHarleian  Misc. 


145 

soon  awakened  a  natural  solicitude  in  the  minds 
of  thoughtful  men.  Olden  Barneveldt,  advocate 
of  Holland,  and  leader  of  the  Arminian  party,  to 
which  Grotius  himself  belonged,  comprehending 
the  situation  at  a  glance,  determined  to  calm  the 
tumult,  while  at  the  same  time  he  increased  the 
power  of  himself  and  his  friends,  by  combining 
the  hitherto  opposing  forces  under  one  govern- 
ment with  common  interests.  Although  this  plan 
met  with  stout  resistance  from  some  of  the  more 
successful  adventurers,  it  was  finally  adopted  by 
the  States-General;  and  two  years  after  the  Eng- 
lish East  India  Company  was  incorporated,  viz: 
in  1602,  the  Republic  of  Holland  established  the 
Dutch  East  India  Company,  thus  creating  a  pow- 
erful corporation,  which,  though  it  originated  with 
the  peace  party,  presented  a  hostile  front  to  all 
foreign  foes. 

The  rapid  growth  and  ample  resources  of  the 
company  may  be  estimated  by  the  fact,  that  six 
years  after  its  organization,  it  had  in  its  service, 
besides  smaller  vessels,  forty  large  ships,  '  armed 
with  six  hundred  pieces  of  cannon,  and  manned 
by  five  thousand  sailors.'1  Prior  to  this,  it  is 
known  to  have  returned  to  its  shareholders  three 


Murphy's  Hudson  in  Holland. 


146 

fourths  of  their  invested  capital,  in  the  course  of  a 
single  year.1 

Although  the  charter  only  expressly  conferred 
upon  the  company,  the  privilege  of  trading  with 
India  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  the  Straits 
of  Magellan,  it  is  evident  that  soon  after  the  com- 
pany was  created,  the  expediency  of  attempting 
to  find  a  passage  by  the  north-east  was  freely 
discussed.  In  fact,  the  fears  of  many,  lest  the 
discovery  of  a  short  northern  route  by  rivals,  should 
suddenly  deprive  them  of  their  lucrative  trade 
with  the  east,  found  expression  as  early  as  the  7th 
of  August,  1603,  in  a  formal  determination  to  pre- 
vent such  a  result  by  every  means  in  their  power.2 

It  is,  accordingly,  easy  to  picture  the  consterna- 
tion produced  by  the  accounts  of  Hudson's  return 
from  a  second  remarkable  voyage;  and  we  have 
no  difficulty  in  appreciating  the  reasons  which 
governed  the  Amsterdam  Directors  of  the  Dutch 
East  India  Company,  in  sending  a  pressing  invi- 
tation to  the  great  navigator,  to  visit  Holland  and 
confer  with  them  in  relation  to  undertaking,  in 
their  service,  another  northern  expedition. 


1  Brodhead's  Hist.  N.  F.,  I,  23. 

2  Register  der  Resolutien   van  de   Seventiene,  cited   by  Mr. 
Murphy. 


147 

Hudson  left  England  in  the  winter  of  1 608-9 .^ 
The  exact  period  of  his  arrival  in  Holland  is  un- 
certain, as  are  also  the  causes  which  induced  him 
to  leave  the  Muscovy  Company's  employ,  and  to 
accept  the  offers  of  the  Dutch.  It  is  probable  that 
Van  Meteren,  the  Dutch  consul  resident  in  Lon- 
don, was  employed  to  conduct  the  negociations 
with  Hudson.  The  arguments  of  this  learned 
man,  were  calculated  to  have  great  weight  with 
one  whose  whole  energies  were  devoted  to  extend- 
ing the  range  of  geographical  knowledge.  The 
historian  may  have  convinced  Hudson,  that  under 
new  auspices  he  would  possess  larger  opportunities 
for  accomplishing  the  wish  of  his  life.  It  could 
scarcely  have  been  the  hope  of  pecuniary  reward, 
which  induced  Hudson  to  listen  to  the  overtures 
of  the  Netherlanders,  for  the  sum  which  he  was 
to  receive  for  his  hazardous  services  was  extremely 
meagre.1  Our  acquaintance  with  his  character,  and 
our  knowledge  of  his  purposes  and  plans,  must  also 
preclude  this  idea,  and  convince  us  that  it  was  the 
desire  to  crown  the  labors  of  his  life  with  the  tri- 
umphant discovery  of  a  northern  passage  to  India, 
which  controlled  Hudson's  action  in  this  matter. 


1  See  Dutch  E.  1.   Co's  contract  with  Hudson.      Murphy's 
Hudson  in  Holland,  pp.  34,  35,  36. 


148 

Immediately  after  his  arrival  in  Amsterdam, 
Hudson  held  several  interviews  with  the  resident 
directors  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company ;  and 
laid  before  them  the  results  of  his  extensive  ex- 
perience in  the  far  north.  Having  revealed  his 
belief  in  an  open  polar  sea,  and  the  consequent 
existence  of  a  passage  that  way  to  India,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  illustrate  his  theory  by  arguments  drawn 
from  the  wide  range  of  personal  observations. 
His  views  were  fully  coincided  in  by  the  Rev. 
Peter  Plantius,  whose  great  attainments  as  a 
geographical  scholar,  lent  additional  weight  to 
the  cogent  reasoning  of  Hudson.  Impressed  by 
the  whole  bearing  of  the  man,  and  aroused  by 
representations  so  forcibly  and  intelligently  con- 
veyed, the  Amsterdam  directors  became  eager  to 
engage  the  services  of  the  distinguished  seaman. 
Reflecting  however,  that  they  could  not  bind  the 
whole  company,  and  that  the  power  of  sending 
out  ships  was  vested  in  the  Council  of  Seventeen, 
whose  next  meeting  would  be  held  too  late  to 
enable  a  vessel  to  sail  that  year  with  any  chance 
of  success,  they  felt  obliged  to  confess  that  they 
were  unprepared  to  engage  at  once  in  an  expedi- 
tion, and  to  rest  content  with  a  promise  from 
Hudson  to  return  to  Amsterdam  the  following  year. 


149 

No  sooner  were  these  negociations  terminated, 
than  advances  were  made  to  Hudson  by  Isaac 
Le  Maire,  an  eminent  merchant  of  Amsterdam, 
born  in  Tournay  in  Hainault,  who  had  formerly 
been  a  director,  but  was  now  opposed  to  the  Dutch 
East  India  Company,  and  desired  to  enlist  Hudson 
in  the  service  of  the  King  of  France.  Hudson 
apparently  conversed  freely  concerning  his  plans 
and  aspirations  with  Le  Maire,  who  communicated 
them  with  a  strong  endorsement  to  President 
Jeannin,  one  of  Henry  the  Fourth's  ambassadors  at 
The  Hague,  specially  charged  by  the  king  to  pro- 
mote the  establishment  of  a  French  East  India  Com- 
pany. Rumors  of  the  interview  with  Le  Maire 
soon  reached  the  ears  of  the  Amsterdam  directors, 
who,  having  written  to  the  other  Chambers,  im- 
mediately recalled  Hudson,  and  entered  into  a 
formal  contract  with  him  to  conduct  a  vessel  forth- 
with to  the  north ;  so  that  when  Le  Maire,  having 
gained  Henry's  consent,  and  being  provided  with 
four  thousand  crowns  for  the  purpose,  applied  to 
Hudson  to  undertake  a  voyage1  for  the  French 


1  Neg.  du  Pres.  Jeannin,  Lettre  du  25  Janvier,  1609.     Ibid. 
Lettre  du  roi  du  vingt-huitieme  Fevrier,  1609,  quoted  by  Mr. 
Murphy.     An  English   translation  of  Jeannin's  letter  is  pub- 
lished in  the  Hakluyt  Soc.  Pub.,  1860,  pp.  244-254. 
20 


150 

monarch,  he  found  the  discoverer  already  pledged 
to  the  Dutch  East  India  Company. 

A  copy  of  the  contract  between  Hudson  and  the 
Chamber  of  Amsterdam,  was  discovered  a  few 
years  since  by  Mr.  Murphy,  in  the  royal  Archives 
at  The  Hague,  appended  to  a  manuscript  history 
of  the  corporation,  prepared  by  Mr.  P.  Van  Dam, 
who  was  the  company's  Counsel,  from  1652  to  1706. 
From  this  we  learn,  that  the  original  was  signed 
on  the  8th  of  January,  1609,  and  that  the  services 
of  an  interpreter  were  required  to  aid  Hudson  in 
his  communications  with  the  Company.1 

The  contract  having  been  completed,  the  in- 
structions for  the  voyage  were  prepared  by  the 
Amsterdam  Chamber,  whose  action  was  sanctioned 
by  the  Council  of  Seventeen,  on  the  25th  of  March.2 

In  response  to  a  resolution  of  that  body,  passed 
at  their  next  meeting,3  copies  of  both  documents 


1  The  use  of  Ilendrick  for  Henry,  in  Hudson's  name,  is  a  vul- 
garism. After  what  has  been  said,  it  is,  perhaps,  superfluous 
to  remark  that  even  in  the  body  of  the  contract,  and  in  the 
signature,  in  the  Dutch  copy,  the  whole  name  is  spelled  in 
plain  English,  HENRY  HUDSON. 

-Res.  van  der  Seventiene,  March  25,  1609,  cited  by  Mr. 
Murphy. 

3  For  an  interesting  account  of  the  internal  organization  of 
the  company,  see  Henry  Hudson  in  Holland,  p.  21. 


151 

were  afterwards  sent  to  each  of  the  several  Cham- 
bers. It  clearly  appears  from  the  authentic  copy 
of  the  contract,  and  the  abstract  of  the  instruc- 
tions preserved  by  Mr.  Van  Dam,  that  the  direct- 
ors agreed  to  furnish  a  small  vessel  of  about  si 
tons,  well  provisioned  and  manned,  in  which  Hud- 
son  should  sail  about  the  first  of  April,  "  to  search 
for  a  passage  by  the  North,  around  by  the  North 
side  of  Nova  Zembla ;"  and  he  was  to  continue  thus 
along  that  parallel  until  he  should  "  be  able  to  sail 
Southward  to  the  latitude  of  sixty  degrees." l  "  He 
was  further  ordered  by  his  instructions,  to  think 
of  discovering  no  other  routes  or  passages,  except 
the  route  around  by  the  north  and  north-east 
above  Nova  Zembla;  with  this  additional  provi- 
sion, that  if  it  could  not  be  accomplished  at  that 
time,  another  route  would  be  the  subject  of  further 
consideration  for  another  voyage."2 

The  sum  of  $320  was  to  be  paid  to  Hudson  for  his 
outfit,  and  for  the  support  of  his  wife  and  children, 
and  in  case  he  lost  his  life,  the  directors  were  to  give 
his  widow  $80  !  Should  he  find  "the  passage  good 
and  suitable  for  the  company  to  use,"  the  directors 


1  Murphy,  pp.  34,  35.      See  D.   E.  I.  Co/s  contract  with 
Hudson. 

2  Ibid,  p.  39,  Mr.  Van  Dam's  abstract  of  Instructions. 


152 

declared  they  would  reward  Hudson  "  for  his  dan- 
gers, trouble  and  knowledge,  in  their  discretion, 
with  which  the  before  mentioned  Hudson  is  con- 
tent." 

Having  thus  completed  his  preliminary  arrange- 
ments with  the  Dutch  E.  I.  Company,  Hudson 
spent  the  intervening  time  before  his  departure,  in 
grave  consultation  with  the  Directors,  and  with 
such  other  leading  men  as  were  competent  to  ad- 
vise with  him  concerning  his  contemplated  voyage. 
Preeminent  among  the  latter  stood  the  Belgian 
emigrant,  Peter  Plantius,  minister  of  the  Eeformed 
Church  in  Amsterdam,  whose  varied  knowledge 
of  maritime  affairs,  was  the  result  of  an  unweary- 
ing spirit  of  philosophical  investigation.  Born  in 
Flanders,  and  compelled  to  seek  refuge  from  per- 
secution in  Holland,  Plantius  had  early  engaged 
with  Usselincx  in  endeavoring  to  establish  a  West 
India  Company,  and  soon  became  widely  known 
as  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Calvinistic  or  Orange 
party.  He  was  an  ardent  believer,  however,  in  the 
practicability  of  reaching  India  by  the  north-east, 
and  accordingly,  took  a  deep  interest l  in  Hudson's 


1  Van  Meteren.     Henry  Hudson  in  Holland.     Hudson  the 
Navigator. 


153 

plans ;  as  he  had  done  in  those  of  Barentson  fifteen 
years  earlier.1 

Purchas  tells  us  that  he  found  among  Hakluyt's 
papers,  the  translations  of  two  documents  loaned 
by  Plantius  to  Hudson.     The  first  contained  mem- 
oranda made  by  Barentson  in  the  course  of  his 
voyage  in  1595.     At  the  top  of  the  sheet  was  the 
following  note  by  Hudson  :    "  This  was  written  by 
William  Barentson  in  a  loose  paper  which  was  lent 
mee,  by  the  Rev.  Peter  Plantius,  in  Amsterdam, 
March  the  seven  and  twentieth,  1609." 2   The  other 
document  was  thus  prefaced  :  •  "  A  Treatise  of  Iver 
Boty,  a  Gronlander,   translated  out  of  the  Norsh 
language  into  High  Dutch,  in  the  yeere  1560,  and 
after,  out  of  High  Dutch  into  Low  Dutch,  by  Wil- 
liam Barentson,  of  Amsterdam,  who  was  chiefe  pi- 
lot aforesaid.     The  same  copie  in  High  Dutch  is  in 
the  hands  of  Jodocus  Hondius,  which  I  have  seene. 
And  this  was  translated  out  of   Low  Dutch  by 
Master  William  Stere,  march  ant,  in  the  yeere  1608, 
for  the  vse  of  me,  Henrie  Hudson.     William  Bar- 
entson's  Booke  is  in  the  hands  of  Master  Peter 
Plantivs,  who  lent  the  same  vnto  me." 3 


1  Purchas,  III,  p.  478,  ed.  of  1625.      De  Veer's   Voyages. 
Hakluyt  Soc.  Pub.,  1853,  p.  41.     Biogr.  Univ. 

2  Purchas,  III,  pp.  518. 

3  Purchas,  III,  pp.  518. 


154 

Jodocus  Hondius,  mentioned  above,  had  placed 
Hudson  under  many  obligations.  Like  his  friend 
Plantius,  he  was  of  Flemish  extraction,  having 
been  born  in  Ghent,  in  1563.  Passing  over  to 
England  at  an  early  age,  during  the  troubles  in 
the  Low  Countries,  he  there  engraved  portraits  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  Sir  Francis  Drake,  and  Thomas 
Cavendish,  the  famous  navigator.  Whether  he  be- 
came acquainted  with  Hudson  at  that  period  of 
his  life,  does  not  appear.  Having  afterwards  re- 
moved to  Amsterdam,  he  engaged  extensively  in 
the  business  of  map  making,  and  gained  much  ap- 
plause on  account  of  the  beauty  and  comparative 
accuracy  of  his  work,  as  well  as  for  the  extent  of 
his  geographical  acquirements.  He  was  the  adviser 
and  interpreter  of  Hudson  in  the  latter's  communi- 
cations with  the  Dutch  E.  I.  Company,  and  we  find 
that  he  afterwards  signed  the  Contract  as  a  witness. 

Hudson's  intercourse  with  Plantius  and  Hondius 
was  of  such  a  confidential  character,  that  he  ap- 
parently revealed  to  these  friends,  his  most  che- 
rished purposes  and  plans.  We  have  not  forgotten, 
that  in  1583,  Thomas  Hudson  had  assisted  at  the 
deliberations  which  resulted  in  the  famous  voyages 
of  John  Davis.1  Now,  in  1609,  his  relative  Henry 


i  See  ante,  p.  138. 


155 

Hudson,  probably  referred  to  the  fact  that  he  had 
long  regarded  those  explorations,  as  containing 
inducements  for  further  search  in  the  same  di- 
rection, in  case  of  failure  in  the  north-east.  Hud- 
son also  produced  certain  letters  and  maps  "  which 
his  friend,  Captain  John  Smith,  had  sent  him  from 
Virginia,  and  by  which  he  informed  him  that  there 
was  a  sea  leading  into  the  Western  ocean,  by  the 
north  of  the  southern  English  colony."1  These 
authorities  were  hailed  with  interest  by  Plantius, 
who  brought  forward  at  this  stage  of  the  conference, 
the  log  books  of  George  Way  mouth,  who  had 
visited  the  mouth  of  Hudson's  Straits  several  years 
before,  in  the  employ  of  the  English  East  India 
Company,  and  had  also  sailed  as  far  south  as  lati- 
tude 41°  30'  north. 2 

After  collating  Smith's  accounts  with  the  results 
of  Waymouth's,  and,  probably,  Gosnold's3  voyages, 
Hudson  was  of  the  opinion  that  there  was  also  ample 


1  Van  Meteren's  Historic  Der  Nederlanden.  Hague,  1614r 
Pol,  629,  a.  Hakluyt,  Soc.  Pub.  1860,  p,148. 

22d  Latin  ed.,  Hudson  Tract,  Amsterdam,  1613.  Hudson 
in  Holland.  Hudson  the  Navigator.  Rundall's  Voyages  to  the 
North  West.  Hakluyt  Soc.  Pub.  1849. 

3  See  Juet's  Journal  of  the  3d  voyage,  Purchas,  IIIr  p.  588, 
ed.  of  1625. 


156 

opportunity  for  discovery  between  the  Chesapeake 
bay  and  the  extreme  southern  point,  visited  by  the 
two  explorers.1  He  thought,  moreover,  that  the 
road  through  the  "Narrows,"  mentioned  by  Way- 
mouth,  might  lead  to  India.  The  latter  opinion 
was  however  stoutly  cornbatted  by  Plantius. 

We  shall  presently  discover  the  comparative  in- 
fluence of  these  various  views,  upon  the  future  move- 
ments of  the  discoverer. 

On  Saturday,  the  fourth  of  April  1609,2  Henry 
Hudson  set  sail  from  Amsterdam,  and  '  by  twelve 
of  the  clocke'  on  Monday,  having  passed  the  Texel, 
was  two  leagues  off  the  land.  His  vessel,  the 
Half  Moon,  a  yacht  of  about  eighty  tons  burden, 
was  manned  by  a  motley  crew  of  sixteen  or 
eighteen3  English  and  Dutch  sailors.  His  mate 
was  likewise  a  Netherlander.  Kobert  Juet,  who 
had  sailed  in  that  capacity  the  preceding  year, 
now  acted  as  Captain's  clerk,  and  fortunately  for 


1  Compare  what  Strachey's  Virginia  says  of  Argal,  in  1610. 
Hakluyt  Soc.  Pub.,  1849,  42,  43,  also  Purchas  IV,  1762. 

2  New  Style. 

3  There  is  a  doubt  as  to  the  exact  number.     Lambrechsten 
says  16  men.    Van  Meteren  first  speaks  of  a  '  crew  of  eighteen 
or  twenty  hands  j'  but  he  afterwards   tells  us  that  Hudson  (in 
making  proposals  to  the  I).  E.  I.  Company  for  another  voyage), 
wished  their  number  raised  to  twenty. 


157 

posterity,  also  kept  the  curious  Journal  of  the 
voyage,  which  is  still  preserved  in  Purchas's  third 
volume. l 

It  is  certainly  greatly  to  be  deplored  that  Hud- 
son's own  Journal,  which  De  Laet  had  before  him 
when  he  wrote  the  "Nieuwe  Werelt,"  2  has  entirely 
disappeared,  together  with  such  other  documents 
as  Hudson  on  his  return  may  have  forwarded  to 
the  Dutch  East  India  Company. 3  By  the  loss  of 
these  invaluable  manuscripts,  we  are  reduced  to 
the  necessity  of  gleaning  the  particulars  of  this 
voyage,  from  the  statements  of  others,  not  tho- 
roughly competent  to  judge  of  the  motives,  which 
actuated  Hudson  at  the  various  stages  of  his  pro- 
gress. 

As  we  have  seen,  Hudson  left  Holland  with  the 
intention  of  searching  "for  a  passage  by  the  North, 
around  by  the  North  side  of  Nova  Zembla."  Yan 
Meteren  tells  us,  that  having  doubled  the  Cape  of 


1  John    Coleman,  also  one  of  Hudson's  former   companions, 
is  the  only  other  Englishman  whose  name  is  mentioned  as  hav- 
ing been  on  board  the  Half  Moon. 

2  Printed  in  1625. 

3  Mr.   Murphy   was   unable  to  discover  any  traces  of  these 
papers  in  Holland. 

21 


158 

Norway 1  the  5th  of  May,  he  "  directed  his  course 
along  the  northern  coasts  towards  Nova  Zembla ; 
but  he  there  found  the  sea  as  full  of  ice  as  he 
had  found  it  the  preceding  year,  so  that  he  lost 
the  hope  of  effecting  any  thing  during  the  season. 
This  circumstance,  and  the  cold  which  some  of 
his  men  who  had  been  in  the  East  Indies  could 
not  bear,  caused  quarrels  among  the  crew,  they 
being  partly  English,  and  partly  Dutch;  upon 
which  the  captain,  Henry  Hudson,  laid  before  them 
two  propositions ;  the  first  of  these  was,  to  go  to 
the  coast  of  America,  to  the  latitude  of  40°." 
This  idea  had  been  suggested  by  Captain  John 
Smith's  maps  and  letters.  "The  other  proposi- 
tion was,  to  direct  their  search  to  Davis's  Straits." 2 
The  latter  was  the  plan  which  Hudson  had  en-, 
tertained,  but  eventually  abandoned,  when  in  a 
somewhat  similar  position,  on  the  6th  of  July, 
1608. 3 

As  his  instructions  were  to  retrace  his  steps, 
and  return  to  Amsterdam  in  case  of  a  failure  to 
find  a  passage  to  the  North  East,  Hudson  would 


'The  North  Cape.     Juet's  Journal,   Purchas,  III,   p.   580. 

2  Van  Meteren's  Hist,  der  Neder.     The  Hague,  1614.    Fol. 
629,  a.     Hakluyt  Soc.  Pub.,  1860,  pp.  147-149. 

3  See  ante,  p.  138. 


159 

have  been  entirely  justified  in  relinquishing  further 
effort,  now  that  he  found  himself  with  a  mutinous 
crew,  utterly  baffled  by  the  ice  in  his  endeavors 
to  discover  an  opening  in  that  direction  to  the 
Celestial  Empire.  His  anxiety  to  accomplish 
something  worthy  of  his  reputation,  however/ 
would  not  suffer  him  to  adopt  such  a  course. 
He  perhaps  argued  that  it  had  not  occurred  to  the 
Directors,  that  insurmountable  obstacles  might  pre- 
sent themselves,  before  his  vessel  fairly  reached 
Nova  Zembla ;  and  he  may  accordingly  have  con- 
cluded that  in  his  present  situation,  he  possessed 
discretionary  power.  On  the  other  hand,  we  are 
distinctly  told  by  Mr.  Yan  Dam,  that  "  having 
found  the  sea  there  *  *  *  as  full  of  ice  as  it  was 
in  the  previous  years,"  Hudson  "determined  con- 
trary to  his  instructions,  to  seek  another  route."1 
Whatever  may  have  been  his  reasoning,  we  know 
that  fortunately  he  did  assume  the  responsibility 
of  sailing  in  the  opposite  direction. 

On  the  14th  of  May,  having  gained  the  consent 
of  his- officers  and  crew,  Hudson  shaped  his  course 
towards  the  setting  sun,  hoping  to  discover  an  un- 


i  MS.  History  of  the  D.  E.  I.  Company,  by  Mr.  P.  Van 
Dam,  in  the  Archives  at  the  Hague.  Passage  translated  by 
Mr.  Murphy,  Hudson  in  Holland,  p.  33. 


160 

interrupted  passage  to  India,  in  the  unexplored 
regions  lying  to  the  north  of  the  infant  Colony 
of  Virginia.1 

A  fortnight  later,  he  had  replenished  his  water 
casks  at  Stromo,  one  of  the  Faroe  group,  and  was 
steering  away  south-west  in  hopes  of  seeing  Busse 
Island,  which  one  of  Frobisher's  ships  had  dis- 
covered thirty  years  before.  Foiled  in  this  attempt, 
he  still  pursued  his  voyage  with  unfaltering  cour- 
age, for  nearly  a  month,  although  beset  by  a  suc- 
cession of  fierce  gales,  and  on  the  second  of  July, 
was  at  soundings  off  the  grand  bank  of  Newfound- 
land, with  foremast  gone  and  sails  badly  rent. 
Falling  in  next  day  with  "  a  great  fleet  of  French- 
men which  lay  fishing  on  the  banke,"  he  "  spake 
with  none  of  them;"  but  soon  after,  when  becalmed, 
he  allowed  his  own  company  to  "  try"  for  cod. 

On  the  twelfth,  the  American  shores  gladdened 
the  sight  of  the  expectant  mariner,  and  on  the 
eighteenth,  Hudson  anchored  in  a  safe  and  com- 
modious harbor  on  the  coast  of  Maine.2 

Here  the  lawless  character  of  the  crew  displayed 


1  Van  Meteren  is  the  only  authority  for  the  important  events 
which  took  place  between   the  5th  and   14th  of  May.    Juet  is 
purposely  silent. 

2  Probably  Penobscot  Bay. 


161 

itself,  in  a  wanton  attack  upon  a  party  of  Indians, 
who  had  made  their  appearance  in  a  couple  of 
French  shallops.  Distressed  and  alarmed  by  the 
occurrence,  Hudson  once  more  stood  out  to  sea, 
and  did  not  approach  the  land  until  the  third  of 
August,  when  he  sent  five  men  ashore,  who  re- 
turned laden  with  rose  trees  and  goodly  grapes. 
Hearing  the  voices  of  men  calling,  the  next  morn- 
ing, he  again  sent  a  boat's  crew  from  the  ship, 
thinking  there  "  had  been  some  Christians  left  on 
the  land."  The  sailors  found  none  but  "  Savages," 
who  manifested  however,  great  delight  on  their 
approach.  Supposing  that  the  point  of  land  which 
he  now  saw  to  the  southward,  was  the  same  head- 
land which  Gosnold,  in  1602,  had  named  "  Cape 
Cod,"  he  held  on  his  way  and  two  weeks  afterward 
found  himself  off  King  James'  Kiver  in  Virginia. 

Kesisting  the  temptation  to  visit  his  friend 
Smith,  whom  he  would  have  found  preparing  to 
return  to  England,  Henry  Hudson,  still  intent  up- 
on the  great  object  of  his  search,  onc$  more  altered 
the  course  of  the  yacht,  and  steering  northward, 
on  Friday,  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  August, 
1609,  discovered  the  great  bay  now  called  Dela- 
ware. 

At  noon,  having  passed  the  lower  cape,  the  shores 


162 

were  descried  stretching  away  north-west,  *  while 
land  was  also  seen  towards  the  north-east,  "which 
Hudson  at  first  took  to  be  an  island,  but  it  proved 
to  be  the  main  land  and  the  second  point 2  of  the 
hay."  3  The  remainder  of  the  day  was  spent  in 
sounding  the  waters, which  were  in  some  parts 
filled  with  shoals,  as  at  the  present  time,  so  that 
the  Half  Moan,  though  of  light  draught,  struck 
upon  the  hidden  sands.  "  Hee  that  will  throughly 
Discover  this  great  Bay"  says  Juet,  "  must  have  a 
small  Pinnasse  that  must  draw  but  four  or  five 
foote  water,  to  sound  before  him." 

At  sunset,  the  master  anchored  his  little  vessel 
"  in  eight  fathomes  water,"  and  found  a  tide  run- 
ning from  the  north-west ;  "  and  it  riseth  one 
fathome,  and  floweth  South-South-east."  4 


1  Juet's  Journal,  Purchas  III,  p.  590. 

2  Cape  May. 

3De  Laet's  Nieuwe  Werelt.  fol.  Amsterdam,  1625,  Book 
III,  Chap.  7.  Hazard's  Annals,  p.  3.  N.  Y.  Hist  Soc.  Coll. 
Yol.  I,  N.  S..  p|290. 

4  Juet's  Journal,  Purchas,  III,  590.  Van  der  Donck  speak- 
ing of  the  South  River,  or  Delaware,  says  :  "  This  is  the  place 
where  the  ship  Half  Moon  first  took  possession."  Dr.  O'Cal- 
laghan,  in  his  Hist,  of  New  Netherland,  Vol.  I,  p.  34,  quotes 
the  Beschryving  Van  Nieuw  Nederlandt,  as  above,  and  also 
says  :  "  Here  he  [Hudson],  anchored  the  Half  Moon  in  eight 
fathom  water,  and  took  possession,  it  is  said,  of  the  country/'" 


163 

*'  From  the  strength  of  the  current  that  set  out 
and  caused  the  accumulation  of  sands/'  he  "  sus- 
pected that  a  large  river  discharged  into  the  bay,57  * 

In  the  course  of  the  night,  the  weather,  which 
had  been  intensely  warm  all  day,  suddenly  changed. 
A  passing  storm  dispelled  the  heat,  while  the 
breeze  blowing  from  the  land  refreshed  the  weary 
men  with  the  moist  perfumes  of  sweet  shrubs  and 
summer  flowers.  At  early  dawn  the  explorations 
were  renewed,  and  Hudson  stood  towards  the 
"  norther  land,"  where  he  again  "  strooke  ground" 
~with  his  rudder.  Convinced  that  the  road  to  Chi- 
na did  not  lie  that  way,  he  hastened  to  emerge 
from  the  Delaware,  in  search  of  new  channels 
through  which  he  might  pass  quickly  to  India,  the 
goal  of  his  wishes.  Imbued  with  this  idea, 
he  continued  his  voyage  along  the  coast  of  New 
Jersey,  and  cast  anchor  on  the  3d  of  September, 
within  the  shelter  of  what  is  now  Sandy  Hook. 
His  subsequent  discovery  of  the  river  which 
bears  his  name,  and  his  ascent  to  a  point  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  present  city  of  Albany,  are  facts 
too  well  known  to  require  repetition  here.2 


1  De  Laet's  Nieuwe  Werelt. 

2  The  loss  of  Hudson's  own  Journal,  in  connection  with  his 
•discovery  of  Delaware  Bay,  is  indeed  irreparable.    Our  sense  of 


164 

On  the  return  voyage  Van  Meteren  informs  us, 
that  Hudson  and  his  company  held  council  to- 
gether, but  were  of  different  opinions.  "  The 
mate,  a  Dutchman,  advised  to  winter  in  New- 
foundland, and  to  search  the  north-western  pas- 
sage of  Davis  throughout.  This  was  opposed 
by  Hudson.  He  was  afraid  of  his  mutinous  crew, 
who  had  sometimes  savagely  threatened  him,  and 
he  feared  that  during  the  cold  season  they  would 
entirely  consume  their  provisions,  and  would  then 
be  obliged  to  return.  Many  of  the  crew  also  were 
ill  and  sickly.  Nobody  however  spoke  of  return- 
ing home  to  Holland,  which  circumstance  made 
the  captain  still  more  suspicious.  He  proposed 


the  loss  is  increased  by  the  remembrance  thut  Hudson's  River, 
Hudson's  Strait  and  Hudson's  Bay  had  probably  been  visited 
long  before  Hudson  explored  them;  while  it  is  pretty  well 
established  that  Delaware  Bay  had  never  been  visited  till  he 
discovered  it  in  1609.  After  a  careful  study  of  the  subject, 
the  above  is  the  substance  of  all  I  have  to  offer  respecting 
Hudson's  discovery  of  Delaware,  except  that  I  give  complete  in 
the  Appendix  the  descriptions  of  De  Laet,  an  d  of  Juet  in  Purchas . 
I  have  indeed  collected  much  interesting  matter  concerning 
the  discovery  of  the  same  bay  in  the  following  year  (1610), 
by  Argal,  which  I  had  intended  to  use  in  this  connection. 
But  I  have  concluded  that  it  would  be  more  appropriate  to 
make  use  of  these  labors  to  illustrate  a  subject  which  I  pro- 
pose to  discuss  on  a  future  occasion,  viz :  the  origin  of  the 
name  of  the  State. 


165 

therefore  to  sail  to  Ireland,  and  winter  there ;  to 
which  they  all    agreed.     At  last  they  arrived  at 
Dartmouth,  in   England,  the   7th  of   November, 
whence  they  informed  their  employers,  the  Direc- 
tors of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company,  of  their  voy- 
age.    They  proposed  to  them  to  go  out  again  for  a 
search  in  the  north-west,  and  that  besides  the  pay,  fif- 
teen hundred  florins  should  be  laid  out  for  an  addi- 
tional supply  of  provisions.    Hudson  also  wanted  six 
or  seven  of  his  crew  exchanged  for  others,  and  their 
number  raised  to  twenty.     He  was  then  going  to 
leave  Dartmouth  on  the  first  of  March,  so  as  to  be 
in  the  north-west  towards  the  end  of  that  month, 
and  there  to  spend  the  whole  of  April,  and  the  first 
half  of  May,  in  catching  whales  and  other  fish  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Panar  Island;1  thence  to  sail 
to  the  north-west,  and  there  to  pass   the  time  till 
the  middle  of  September,  and  then  return  to  Hol- 
land, along  the  north-eastern  coast  of   Scotland. 
Thus  this  voyage  passed  off." 

"  A  long  time  elapsed  through  contrary  winds,  be- 
fore the  Company  could  be  informed  of  the  arrival 
of  the  ship  in  England.  ,Then  they  ordered  the 


1  Somewhere  near  the  coast  of  Newfoundland.  No  such 
name  as  Panar  Island  occurs  on  old  maps.  Dr.  Asher  is  of  the 
opinion  that  the  island  meant  is  the  Ys.  de  Arena  of  Ortelius. 

22 


166 

ship  and  crew  to  return  as  soon  as  possible.  But 
when  they  were  going  to  do  so,  Henry  Hudso  n  and 
the  other  Englishmen  of  the  ship  were  commanded 
by  the  government  there  not  to  leave  England,  but 
to  serve  their  own  country.  Many  persons  thought 
it  rather  hard  and  unfair  that  these  sailors  should 
thus  be  prevented  from  laying  their  accounts  and 
reports  before  their  employers,  chiefly  as  the  enter- 
prise in  which  they  had  been  engaged  was  such  as 
to  benefit  navigation  in  general.  These  latter 
events  took  place  in  January,  1610."  l 

In  the  interval,  it  is  probable  that  Hudson  was 
present  at  the  grand  festival  given  by  the  English 
East  India  Company,  on  the  30th  of  December 
(1609) ,  on  board  the  great  ship  "  The  Trades  Increase ," 
On  this  occasion  his  old  friend  Sir  Thomas  Smith,gov- 
ernor  of  the  company,  received  from  his  majesty, 
King  James,  "  a  very  faire  chaine  of  gold,  with  a 
Jewell  wherein  was  the  King's  picture."  2 

After  a  detention  of  eight  months  in  England 
the  Hal f  Moon*  reached  Amsterdam  in  the  summer 


1  Van    Meteren,  Historie  der    Nederlanden.      Hague,  1614, 
Folio  629,  a.     For  English  translation  see  Hakluyt  Soc.  Pub., 
1860,  pp.  151-153. 

2  Stow's  Chronicle,  pp.  509,  510. 

3  On  the  6th  of  March,    1615,  she    was   finally  wrecked  and 
lost  on  the  Island  of  Mauritius.     Brodhead,  I,  43. 


167 

of  1610.  In  the  month  of  April  preceding,  her 
late  commander  Henry  Hudson,1  once  more  sailed 
under  English  auspices  in  search  of  a  north-west 
passage.  From  this  voyage  he  was  destined  never 
to  return.  Again  cursed  with  a  wicked  and  mu- 
tinous company,  he  encountered  hardships  and 
sufferings  from  their  criminal  misconduct,  which 
the  artful  inventions  of  the  survivors  skilfully 
concealed.  Though  he  had  divided  even  with  tears 
his  last  bread  with  his  men,  yet  on  midsummer's 
day,  1611,  his  ungrateful  crew,  thrusting  him  into 
a  frail  boat,  with  his  son,2  and  several  sick 
sailors,  cut  him  adrift,  to  perish  amid  the  arctic 
winds  and  waves  of  the  "  great  waste  of  waters," 
which  bearing  his  name,  "  is  his  tomb  and  his  monu- 
ment."3 

Two  centuries  and  a  half  have  elapsed   since 
Delaware's  discoverer  ended  his  heroic  labors  and 


1  For  names  of  his  employers,  see  Hakluyt  Soc.  Pub.,  1860. 
p.  255. 

2  For  account  of  his  son,  John  Hudson,  see  Appendix  I. 

3  Bancroft,  II,  pp.   265-275,  19th   edition.     The  eloquent 
and  exact  historian  of  the  United  States  gives  a  graphic  sketch 
of  Hudson's  career,  in  his  second  volume.      Mr.  Brodhead,  in 
his  History  of  New  York,  and  Dr.  O'Callaghan,  in  his  History 
of  New  Netherland,  also  furnish  exceedingly   interesting  ac- 
counts of  Hudson's  life  and  voyages. 


168 

met  his  tragic  fate;  yet  to-day  three  nationalities 
linger  with  pleasure  over  the  incidents  of  his  ro- 
mantic career,  and  find  subjects  of  common  pride 
in  the  record  of  his  brilliant  explorations  ;  while 
the  silver  thread  of  a  great  internal  improvement1 
connecting  the  waters  of  the  bay  with  those  of  the 
river  which  he  also  discovered,  symbolizes  the 
unity  of  interest  which  the  States  of  Delaware  and 
New  York  must  always  retain  in  the  name  of 
HENRY  HUDSON. 


1  The  Delaware  and  Hudson  canal. 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX. 


I. 

HENRY  HUDSON'S  DESCENDANTS. 

It  is  apparent  from  the  contract  between  the  Dutch 
East  India  Company  and  Henry  Hudson  that  he  had 
several  children  besides  the  "  only  son  "  so  often  refer- 
red to  by  writers  during  the  last  two  hundred  years. 
I  have  taken  the  trouble  to  examine  various  authorities 
for  information  relative  to  this  son,  who  accompanied 
his  father  in  the  two  voyages  to  the  North  in  the  years 
1607  and  1608,  was  with  him,  perhaps,  in  1609,  when 
he  made  his  great  discoveries  in  this  part  of  the  New 
World,  and  finally  perished  with  him  in  his  last 
voyage  in  1611.  I  have  been  unable  to  glean  any 
thing  further,  except  the  fact  that  his  full  name  was 
John  Hudson,  having  probably  been  named  after 
John  Hudson,  son  of  Henry  Hudson  the  elder  (see 
pages  45  and  127),  and  that  in  the  Journal  of  the 
Voyage  to  the  North,  in  1607,  by  Henry  Hudson  and 
John  Playse,  he  is  described  as  "a  Boy,"1  while  in 
Hudson's  own  Journal  of  the  second  voyage,  in  1608, 
he  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  crew,  having  apparently 


1  Purchas  TIT,  567,  ed.  of  1625. 


172 


at  that  time  attained  to  the  full  dignity  of  a  seaman.1 
Of  the  other  children,  of  whose  existence  even  the 
world  had  been  unaware,  until  the  very  recent  dis- 
covery of  the  East  India  Company's  contract,  I  have 
been  unable  to  learn  any  thing.  It  is  possible  that 
some  of  their  descendants  are  still  to  be  found.  If 
inquiries  were  diligently  set  on  foot  by  persons  inter- 
ested in  historical  researches  in  different  parts  of  the 
world,  they  might  lead  to  the  discovery  of  Hudson's 
posterity,  and  perhaps  reveal  many  interesting  tacts,  or 
even  bring  to  light  a  truthful  representation  of  the 
great  discoverer  himself. 

Up  to  this  time,  excepting  the  imaginary  description 
in  which  the  humorous  Mr.  Knickerbocker  indulges 
in  his  veracious  history2  —  no  writer,  as  far  as  my 
knowledge  extends,  alludes  to  the  personal  appearance 
of  Hudson ;  and  we  are  told  by  the  best  authority 
"  that  not  even  a  contemporaneous  print  of  doubtful 
authenticity  "  exists  to  perpetuate  the  form  or  deline- 
ate the  features  of  the  intrepid  navigator. 

It  is  not  impossible,  however,  that  his  old  friend 
Jodocus  Hondius  engraved  Hudson's  portrait,  and  that 
it  may  yet  be  found  in  some  odd  corner. 


iPurchas  III,  p.  574,  ed.  of  1625,  Dr.  Asher  in  a  foot  note  (p. 
122,  Hakluyt  Soc.  Pub.,  1860),  says:  "Several  works  on  arctic 
discovery  assert  that  this  John  Hudson  was  the  son  of  the  great  navi- 
gator. This  is  merely  a  conjecture,  though  not  an  unlikely  one.  It 
rests  upon  the  fact  that  John  was  a  boy  when  he  lost  his  life  with  his 
supposed  father."  From  what  is  said  above  it  would  appear  that 
John  Hudson  was  not  a  boy  when  he  lost  his  life.  As  to  his  having 
been  the  son  of  Henry  Hudson  there  can  be  no  doubt,  for  Purchas 
himself  (Vol.  V,  p.  818,  22d  line,  ed.  of  1626),  declares  that  such  was 
the  fact. 

2 Knickerbocker's  Hist.  N.  Y.,  p.  78. 


173 


I  have  been  informed  by  a  gentleman  whose  grace- 
ful and  scholarly  contributions  to  literature  have 
attracted  a  wide  circle  of  admirers,  that  an  intelligent 
Hollander  mentioned  to  him  several  years  since  that 
he  was  cognizant  of  the  fact  that  descendants  of  Henry 
Hudson  still  lived  in  Amsterdam.  From  some  facts, 
however,  which  I  have  lately  obtained,  I  am  inclined 
to  believe  that  the  descendants  of  Hudson  are  still 
living  in  England. 

t 

II. 

RICHARD  HAKLUYT. 

Richard  Hakluyt,  descended  from  an  ancient  family 
long  seated  in  the  county  of  Hereford,  in  England, 
was  born,  it  is  supposed,  in  or  near  London,  about  the 
year  1553.     He  received  his  preliminary  education  at 
Westminster  school,  and  it  was  while  sojourning  at 
"  that  fruitful  nurserie,"  as  one  of  the  Queen's  scholars, 
that  he  paid  a  visit  to  his  cousin,  Master  Richard 
Hakluyt,  a  gentleman  of  the  Middle  Temple,  who  first 
implanted  in  his  mind  the  love  of  cosmography,  and 
turned  his  attention  to  maritime  discoveries.     At  the 
age  of  seventeen  he  was  elected  to  Christ  Church  Col- 
lege, Oxford.     Four  years  later  he  took  his  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts,  and  on  the  27th  June,  1577,  he  re- 
ceived that  of  Master  of  Arts.     Some  years  afterward 
he  addressed  letters  to  Lord  Admiral  Howard  and  Sir 
Francis  Walsingham,  with  a  view  to  the  permanent 
establishment  of  a  course  of  lectures  on  navigation  ; 
and  prior  to  the  year  1589  it  appears  that  he  himself 
delivered  discourses  on  the  subject.     It  is  said  that  it 
was  proposed  to  him  to  accompany  Sir  Humphrey 
23 


174 


Gilbert  to  New  Foundland.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  fact,  we  know  that  he  did  not  go,  and  that 
shortly  afterward  he  was  appointed  chaplain  to  Sir 
Edward  Stafford,  ambassador  from  Queen  Elizabeth 
to  the  court  of  France.  While  residing  in  Paris  about 
the  year  1588,  by  the  Queen's  mandate  he  became  pre- 
bendary of  Bristol.  He  did  not,  however,  return  to 
England  until  1588.  In  this  year  he  was  one  of  the 
assignees  of  Sir  Walter  Balegh's  patent.  In  1594  he 
married,  and  nine  years  later  succeeded  Dr.  Richard 
Webster  as  a  prebendary  of  Westminster.  He  died 
on  the  23d  November,  1616,  and  was  buried  in  "  the 
Abbey  Church  of  Westminster,  dedicated  to  St.  Peter, 
on  the  26th  of  the  same  month."1  A  full  account  of 
his  various  works  may  be  found  in  Mr.  Winter  Jones's 
introduction  to  the  Hakluyt  Society  Publications  for 
1850. 

III. 

SAMUEL  PURCHAS. 

The  Reverend  Samuel  Purchas  an  English  clergy- 
man, whose  principal  work,  the  Pilgrimes,  and  Pilgrim- 
age, is  so  frequently  referred  to  in  the  preceding  pages, 
was  a  native  of  Thacksted  in  Essex,  where  he  was  born 
in  the  year  1577.  After  studying  at  Cambridge,  "he 
became  Minister  of  Eastwood  in  Rockford  hundred  in 
his  own  county,  but  being  desirous  to  forward  and 
prosecute  his  natural  Genie  he  had  to  the  collecting  and 
writing  of  voyages,  travels,  and  pilgrimages,  left  his 
cure  to  his  Brother,  and  by  the  favor  of  the  Bishop  of 
London,  got  to  be  Parson  of  St.  Martin's  church 


J  Wood's  Athena  Oxonienses,  I,  350,  ed.  1690. 


175 


within  Ludgate;"  and  was  also  made  Chaplain  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Wood  in  his  Fasti 
Oxonienses,  (Vol.  I,  pp.  821,  822),  gives  a  list  of  his 
works,  and  says,  "  by  the  publishing  of  which  books 
he  brought  himself  into  debt,  but  died  not  in  prison, 
as  some  have  said,  but  in  his  own  house,  (a  little  while 
after  the  king  had  promised  him  a  Deanery)  about 
1628,  aged  51."  Boissard,'  Bibliotheca,  (ed.  1650),  de- 
scribes him  as  "  an  Englishman  admirably  skilled  in  lan- 
guages and  human-  and  divine  arts;  a  very  great 
philosopher,  historian  and  theologian  ;  a  faithful  priest 
of  his  own  church ;  very  widely  known  for  his  many 
excellent  writings,  and  especially  for  his  large  volumes 
pertaining  to  the  East  and  West  Indies." 

IV. 

DR.  JOHN  DEE. 

Dr.  John  Dee  was  born  in  London,  July  13th,  1527, 
and  died  at  Mortlake,  six  miles  distant,  in  1607  or 
1608.  He  was  educated  at  Cambridge,  and  distin- 
guished himself  in  science.  After  a  short  tour  in 
Holland,  he  was  elected  fellow  of  Trinity  College,  and 
in  1548  took  his  degree  as  Master  of  Arts.  Incurring 
the  suspicion  of  being  a  conjurer,  he  repaired  to  the 
continent,  resided  two  years  at  the  University  of 
Louvain,  and  visited  France,  spending  some,  time  at 
the  College  of  Rheims.  On  his  return  to  England,  in 
1551,  Dee's  learning  recommended  him  to  the  patron- 
age of  Edward  YI.  Shortly  after  the  accession  of 
Queen  Mary,  he  was  accused  of  practising  against  the 
Queen's  life  by  enchantment,  and  he  was  subjected  to 
a  protracted  trial  and  long  imprisonment,  but  was  re- 


176 


leased  .in  1555.  On  Elizabeth's  accession  to  the 
throne  he  was  introduced  to  the  Queen,  and  requested 
to  name  a  propitious  day  for  the  coronation.  He  again 
returned  to  the  continent,  where  he  was  supposed  to 
have  acted  as  a  secret  agent  for  the  English  govern- 
ment. In  1571  he  fell  dangerously  ill  abroad,  and  the 
Queen  sent  two  of  her  own  physicians  to  his  relief. 
After  his  return  he  settled  at  Mortlake,  where  he  was 
engaged  for  some  years  in  his  favorite  pursuits  and 
studies,  and  calculated  horoscopes  and  nativities  for 
private  patrons.  In  1576  the  people  in  the  neighbor- 
hood attacked  his  house,  from  prejudice  against  his 
occult  science,  and  destroyed  his  furniture  and  library. 
In  1578  he  was  again  sent  abroad,  and  after  his  return 
he  recommenced  his  experiments  in  the  black  science 
with  one  Edward  Kelly,  an  apothecary  of  depraved 
character,  who  had  had  his  ears  cropped  for  forgery. 
They  went  to  the  continent  together,  and  visited  the 
Emperor  at  Prague,  where  Dee  and  Kelly  finally  sepa- 
rated. Returning  once  more  to  England,  Dee  was 
appointed  Chancellor  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  and  soon 
after  Warden  of  Manchester  College.  Leaving  this 
employment  in  1602  or  1604,  he  took  up  his  residence 
again  at  Mortlake,  where  he  died. 

"His  private  diary,  written  in  a  very  small,  illegible 
hand,  on  the  margins  of  old  almanacs,"  was  "  dis- 
covered a  few  years  ago  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Black,  in  the 
library  ef  the  Ashmolean  Museum  at  Oxford."  "  The 
Catalogue  of  his  Library  of  Manuscripts,  made  by 
himself  before  his  house  was  plundered  by  the  popu- 
lace, is  preserved  in  the  Library  of  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge."  Both  of  these  curious  documents  were 
edited,  with  valuable  notes,  by  James  Orchard  Halli- 
well,  Esq.,  F.  R.  S.,  and  were  published  in  1842  by  the 


177 


Camden  Society  of  London.  For  an  extended  notice 
of  Dr.  Dee  and  his  works,  see  Chalmer's  Gen.  Biog. 
Diet.,  London,  1813,  vol.  ilth,  pp.  378  -  388.  Disraeli 
in  his  Amenities  of  Literature  gives  an  appreciative 
analysis  of  Dr.  Dee's  character. 


Y. 

EXTKACTS  FROM  THE  PRIVATE  DlARY  OF  DR.  DEE. 

"  1577,  Nov.  6th.  Sir  Umfrey  Gilbert  cam  to  me  to 
Mortlak. 

"Nov.  22d.  I  rod  to  Windsor  to  the  Q.  Majestie. 
Nov.  25th.  I  spake  with  the  Queue  hora  quinta.  Nov. 
28th.  I  spake  with  the  Quene  hora  quinta ;  I  spake 
with  Mr.  Secretary  Walsingham.1  I  declared  to  the 
Quene  her  title  to  Greenland,  Estetiland  and  Frise- 
land."  Pp.  3-4. 

"  1578,  June  30.  I  told  Mr.  Daniel  Eogers,2  Mr. 
Hackluyt  of  the  Middle  Temple  being  by,  thatKyng 
Arthur  and  King  Maty,  both  of  them,  did  conquier 
Gelindia,  lately  called  Friseland,  which  he  so  noted 
presently  in  his  written  copy  of  Monumethensis,3  for 
he  had  no  printed  boke  therof."  *  *  * 

"  1578,  August  5th.  Mr.  Eaynolds,  of  Bridewell, 
tok  his  leave  of  me  as  he  passed  toward  Darthmouth, 


1  "  Ashmole  informs  us  that  Walsingham  continued  for  a  length  of 
time  one  of  Dr.  Dee's  best  patrons." 

2  Rogers  was  a  member  of  the  University  of  Oxford,  and  a  large 
common  place-book  in  his  handwriting  is  in  Archbishop  Tenison's 
library  in  St.  Martin's-in-the-Fields. 

3  "  That  is  Galfridus  Monumetensis  de  gestis  regum  Britanni.se.     Hack- 
luyt mentions  this  fact  in  his  collection  of  voyages." 


178 


to   go  with  Sir  Umfry  Gilbert  toward   Hocheleya." 
P.  4. 

"1579,  Oct.  18th.  Mr.  Adrian  Gilbert  and  John 
Davys  reconcyled  themselves  to  me,  and  disclosed 
some  of  Emery,  his  most  unhonest,  hypocriticall  and 
devilish  dealings  arid  devises  agaynst  me  and  other, 
&nd  likewise  of  that  errant  strompet  her  abominable 
wordes  and  dedes  ;  and  John  Davys  sayd  that  he  might 
•curse  the  tyme  that  ever  he  knew  Emery,  and  so  much 
followed  his  wicked  cownsayle  and  advyse.  So  just 
is  God  !" 

"  1580,  Aug.  28.  My  dealing  with  Sir  Humfrey  Gil- 
bert for  his  graunt  of  discovery."  P.  8. 

"  1580,  Sept.  10th.  Sir  Humfrey  Gilbert  graunted  me 
my  request  to  him,  made  by  letter,  for  the  royaltyes 
of  discovery  all  to  the  North  above  the  parallell  of  the 
50  degree  of  latitude,  in  the  presence  of  Stoner,  Sir 
John  Gilbert,  his  servant  or  reteiner ;  and  thereuppon 
toke  me  by  the  hand  with  faithful  promises  in  his 
lodging  of  John  Cooke's  howse  in  Wichcross  strete, 
where  wee  dyned  onely  us  three  together,  being  Sat- 
terday."  P.  8. 

"  1581,  March  23d.  At  Mortlak  cam  to  me  Hugh 
Smyth,  who  had  returned  from  Magellan  straights 
and  Yaygatz."  *  * 

"  June  17th  (1581).  Yong  Mr.  Hawkins,  who  had 
"byn  with  Sir  Francis  Drake,  cam  to  me  to  Mortlake." 
P.  11. 

"1582,  July  16th.  A  meridie  hor.  3J  cam  Sir 
George  Peckham  to  me  to  know  the  tytle  for  Novem- 
foega  in  respect  of  Spayn  and  Portugall  parting  the 
whole  world's  distilleryes.  He  promysed  me  of  his 
gift  and  of  his  patient  *  *  *  of  the  new  conquest, 


179 


and  thought  to  get  so  moche  of  Mr.  Gerardes  gift  to 
be  sent  me  with  seale  within  a  few  days."  P.  16. 

"  1583,  Feb'y  4th.  Mr.  Edmunds,  of  the  Privie 
Chamber,  Mr.  Lee,  who  had  byn  in  Moschovia,  cam 
to  be  acquaynted  with  me."  P.  18. 

"1588,  March  17th.  Mr.  John  Davys  went  to  Chel- 
sey  with  Mr.  Adrien  Gilbert  to  Mr.  Radforths,  and  so 
the  18th  day  from  thence  towards  Devonshyre."  P.  19. 

"  1583,  Aug.  7th.  Mr.  William  Burrow  passed  by 
me."  P.  21. 

"  1589,  Dec.  29.  Mr.  Adrian  Gilbert  cam  to  me  to 
Mortlak,  and  offred  rne  as  much  as  I  could  require  at 
his  hands,  both  for  my  goods  carryed  away,  and  for 
the  mynes."  P.  32. 

"  1590,  April  16th.  Good  Sir  Francis  Walsingham 
died  at  night  hora  undecima."  P.  33. 

"  1590,  May  18th.  The  two  gentlemen,  the  unckle 
Mr.  Richard  Candish,  and  his  nephew  the  most  famous 
Mr.  Thomas  Candish,  who  had  sayled  rownd  the  world, 
did  visit  me  at  Mortlake."  Pp.  33-34. 

"  1594,  April  1st.  Capitayn  Hendor1  made  acquaynt- 
ance  with  me,  and  shewed  me  a  part  of  his  pollicy 
.against  the  Spanishe  King  his  intended  mischief 
agaynst  her  Majestie  and  this  real  rne."  P.  49. 

"  1595,  Oct.  9th.  I  dyned  with  Syr  Walter  Eawlegh 
at  Durham  Ho wse."  P.  54. 


1  "  Dr.  Dee  has  preserved  several  interesting  notices  of  his  intima- 
cies with  the  principal  navigators  of  his  time.  A  general  reference  to 
Hackluy  t^willjbe^sufficient. " 


180 


VI. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF  EGBERT  JUET,  OF  LIME- 
HOUSE,    CONCERNING    THE    DISCOVERY    OF    DELAWARE 

BAY.     FROM  PURCHAS,  His  PILGRIMES,  PART  III, 
pp.  590-591. 

The  eight  and  twentieth,  faire  and  hot  weather,  the 
winde  at  South  South-west.  In  the  morning  at  sixe 
of  the  clocke  wee  weighed,  and  steered  away  North 

The  Point  twelve  leagues  till  uoone,  and  came  to  the  Point  of  the 
Land  ;  and  being  hard  by  the  Land  in  fiue  fathomes, 
on  a  sudden  wee  came  into  three  fathomes ;  then  we 
beare  up  and  had  but  ten  foote  water,  and  ioyned  to 
the  Point.  Then  as  soone  as  wee  were  ouer,  we  had 
fiue,  sixe,  seuen,  eight,  nine,  ten,  twelue,  and  thirteene 

Bafand  fathomes.  Then  wee  found  the  Land  to  trend  away 
North-west,  with  a  great  Bay  and  Biuers.  But  the 
Bay  wee  found  shoald ;  and  in  the  offing  wee  had  ten 
fathomes,  and  had  sight  of  Breaches  and  drie  Sand. 
Then  wee  were  forced  to  stand  backe  againe  ;  so  wee 

A  small     stood  backe  South-east  by  South,  three  leagues.     And 

needS&i  at  seuen  of  the  clocke  wee  Anchored  in  eight  fathomes 
water :  and  found  a  Tide  set  to  the  North-west,  and 
North  North-west,  and  it  riseth  one  fathome,  and  flow- 
eth  South  South-east.  And  hee  that  will  throughly 
Discouer  this  great  Bay,  must  haue  a  small  Pinnasse, 
that  must  draw  but  foure  or  fiue  foote  water,  to  sound 
before  him.  At  fiue  in  the  morning  wee  weighed, 
and  steered  away  to  the  Eastward  on  many  courses, 
for  the  Norther  Land  is  full  of  shoalds.  Wee  were 

The          among  them,  and  once  wee  strooke,  and  wee  went 

Northern 

Land  is  full  away  i  and  steered  away  to  the  South-east,     bo  wee 

of  shoals  »   ?  * 


181 


had  two,  three,  foure,  fiue,  sixe,  and  seuen  fathomes, 
and  so  deeper  and  deeper. 

The  nine  and  twentieth,  faire  weather,  with  some 
Thunder  and  showers,  the  winde  shifting  betweene 
the  South  South-west,  and  the  North  North  west.  In 
the  morning  wee  weighed  at  the  breake  of  day,  and 
stood  toward  the  Norther  Land,  which  wee  found  to 
bee  all  Hands  to  our  sight,  and  great  stormes  from 
them,  and  are  shoald  three  leagues  off.  For  we 
comming  by  them,  had  but  seuen,  sixe,  fiue,  foure,  They 
three,  and  two  fathomes  and  a  halfe,  and  strooke 
ground  with  our  Rudder,  we  steered  off  South-west, 
one  Grlasse,  and  had  fiue  fathoms.  Then  we  steered 
South-east  three  glasses,  then  we  found  seuen  fath- 
omes, and  steered  North-east  by  East,  foure  leagues, 
.and  came  to  twelue  and  thirteen e  fathomes.  At  one 
•of  the  clocke,  I  went  to  the  top-mast  head,  and  set  the 
Land,  and  the  bodie  of  the  Hands  did  beare  North- 
west by  North.  And  at  foure  of  the  clocke  wee  had 
gone  foure  leagues  East  South-east,  and  North-east  by 
East,  and  found  but  seuen  fathoms,  and  it  was  calme? 
so  we  Anchored.  Then  I  went  againe  to  the  top- 
mast head,  to  see  how  farre  I  could  see  Land  about 
vs,  and  could  see  no  more  but  the  Hands.  And  the 
souther  point  of  them  did  beare  North-west  by  West, 
eight  leagues  off.  So  wee  rode  till  mid-night.  Then 
the  winde  came  to  the  North  North-west,  so  wee 
waighed  and  set  sayle. 


24 


182 


VII. 

EXTRACTS  RELATING  TO  HUDSON'S  THIRD  VOYAGE,  FROM 
JOHN  DE  LAET'S  NIEUWE  WERELT.  Fol.,  Amster- 
dam, 1625,  1630.  From  Book  III,  Chapter  7. 

The  following  passages  are  from  the  New  York  Historical  Society's  Collections, 
New  Series,  Vol.  I,  pp.  290,  291. 

As  to  the  first  discovery,  the  Directors  of  the  privi- 
leged East  India  Company,  in  1609,  dispatched  the 
yacht  "Half  Moon,"  under  the  command  of  Henry 
Hudson,  captain  and  super-cargo,  to  seek  a  passage  to 
China  by  the  north-east.  But  he  changed  his  course 
and  stood  over  towards  New  France,  and  having 
passed  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  in  latitude  43° 
23', l  he  made  the  land  in  latitude  44°  15 ', 2  with  a 
west-north-west  and  north-west  course,  and  went  on 
shore  at  a  place  where  there  were  many  of  the  natives, 
with  whom,  as  he  understood,  the  French  came  every 
year  to  trade.  Sailing  hence,  he  bent  his  course  to 
the  south,  until,  running  south-south-west  and  south- 
west by  south,  he  again  made  land  in  latitude  41°  43  ', 
which  he  supposed  to  be  an  island,  and  gave  it  the 
name  of  New  Holland,3  but  afterwards  discovered  that 
it  was  Cape  Cod,  and  that,  according  to  his  observa- 
tion, it  lay  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  to  the 
west  of  its  place  on  all  the  charts.  Pursuing  his 
course  to  the  south,  he  again  saw  land  in  latitude  37° 
15 ' ,  the  coast  was  low,  running  north  and  south,  and 

1  Near  Cape  Sable,  Nova  Scotia. 

2  On  the  coast  of  Maine. 

3  See  Dr.  Asher's  note,  p.  155,  Hak.  Soc.  Pub.,  I860. 


183 


opposite  to  it  lay  a  bank  or  shoal,  within  which  there 
was  a  depth  of  eight,  nine,  ten,  eleven,  seven  and  six 
and  a  half  fathoms,  with  a  sandy  bottom.  Hudson 
called  this  place  Dry  Cape.1 

Changing  his  course  to  tho'  northward,  he  again  dis- 
covered land  in  latitude  38°  9',  where  there  was  a 
white  sandy  shore,  and  within  appeared  a  thick  grove 
of  trees  full  of  green  foliage.  The  direction  of  the 
coast  was  north-north-east  and  south-south-west,  for 
about  twenty-four  miles  ;  then  north  and  south  for 
twenty-one  miles,  and  afterwards  south-east  and  north- 
west for  fifteen  miles.  They  continued  to  run  along 
this  coast  to  the  north,  until  they  reached  a  point  from 
which  the  land  stretches  to  the  west  and  north- west, 
where  several  rivers  discharge  into  an  open  bay. 
Land  was  seen  to  the  east-north-east,  which  Hudson 
at  first  took  to  be  an  island,  but  it  proved  to  be  the 
main  land,  and  the  second  point  of  the  bay,  in  latitude 
38°  54  '.2  Standing  in  upon  a  course  north-west  by 
east,  they  soon  found  themselves  embayed,  and,  en- 
countering many  breakers,  stood  out  again  to  the 
south-south-east.  Hudson  suspected  that  a  large 
river  discharged  into  the  bay,  from  the  strength  of  the 
current  that  set  out  and  caused  the  accumulation  of 
sands  and  shoals. 

Continuing  their  course  along  the  shore  to  the  north, 
they  observed  a  white  sandy  beach  and  drowned  land 
within,  beyond  which  there  appeared  a  grove  of  wood  ; 


1  Near  the  mouth  of  Chesapeake  Bay  ;  the  description  of  the  coast 
corresponds  to  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Charles. 

2  This  was  without  doubt  Cape  May,  now  laid  down  in  latitude  38° 
57',  varying  only  3'  from  observations  of  Hudson.     The  remainder  of 
the  description  applies  well  enough  to  Delaware  bay  and  river,  now 
first  discovered,  as  claimed  by  the  Dutch. 


184 


the  coast  running  north-east  by  east,  and  south-west 
by  south.  Afterwards  the  direction  of  the  coast 
changed  to  north  by  east,  and  was  higher  land  than 
they  had  yet  seen.  They  at  length  reached  a  lofty 
promontory  or  head-land,  behind  which  was  situated, 
a  bay,  which  they  entered  and  ran  up  into  a  road- 
stead near  a  low  sandy  point,  in  latitude  40°  18 /.t 
There  they  were  visited  by  two  savages  clothed  in  elk 
skins,  who  showed  them  every  sign  of  friendship.  On 
the  land  they  found  an  abundance  of  blue  plums,  and 
magnificent  oaks,  of  a  height  and  thickness  that  one 
seldom  beholds ;  together  with  poplars,  linden  trees,. 
and  various  other  kinds  of  wood  useful  in  ship- 
building. Sailing  hence  in  a  north-easterly  direction, 
they  ascended  a  river  to  nearly  43°  north  latitude, 
where  it  became  so  narrow  and  of  so  little  depth  that 
they  found  it  necessary  to  return.2 

From  all  that  they  could  learn,  there  had  never  been 
any  ships  nor  Christians  in  that  quarter  before,  and 
they  were  the  first  to  discover  the  river  and  ascend  it 
so  far.  Henry  Hudson  returned  to  Amsterdam  with 
this  report ;  and  in  the  following  year,  1610,  some 
merchants  again  sent  a  ship  thither,  that  is  to  say,  to 
the  second  river  discovered,  which  was  called  Man- 
hattes,  from  the  savage  nation  that  dwelt  at  its  mouth. 
And  subsequently  their  High  Mightinesses,  the  States 
General,  granted  to  these  merchants  the  exclusive 
privilege  of  navigating  this  river  and  trading  there  ; 


1  This  is  about  the  latitude  of  Sandy  Hook.     The  highlands  of  New 
Jersey  formed  the  lofty  promontory  referred  to. 

2  The  latitude  of  Albany  is  42°  39'.     It  appears  from  Juet's  Journal 
of  the  voyage,  that  Hudson  sent  his  small  boat  several  miles  further 
up  the  river  than  his  ship  proceeded,  and  in  this  way  he  probably 
reached  the  latitude  of  Albany,  described  as  nearly  43°. 


185 


whereupon,  in  the  year  1615,  a  redoubt  or  fort  was 
erected  on  the  river,  and  occupied  by  a  small  garrison,, 
of  which  we  shall  hereafter  speak.  Our  countrymen 
have  continued  to  make  voyages  thither  from  year  to- 
year,  for  the  purpose  of  trafficking  with  the  natives,, 
and  on  this  account  the  country  has  very  justly  re- 
ceived the  name  of  NEW-^ETHERLAND. 

Till. 

"  THE  HUDSON  TRACT." 

HESSEL  GERRITZ'S  VARIOUS  ACCOUNTS  OF  HUDSON'S* TWO- 
LAST  VOYAGES.1 

IFrom  the  Latin-  and  Dutch  [editions  of  the  Descriptio  et  Delineatio  Geographica, 
Detectionis  Freti  ab  H.  Hudsono  Inventi.     4to,  Amsterdam,  1612, 1633. 

The  following  accounts  are  all  due  to  the  same 
hand ;  they  even  form  parts  of  the  different  editions 
of  the  same  work  ;  and  the  natural  supposition  would 
therefore  be,  that  they  must  be  repetitions  of  each 
other.  This  is,  indeed,  in  a  small  degree,  the  case- 
But  the  variations  between  them  are  very  great  and 
very  curious;  showing,  as  they  do,  the  uncertainty  of 
Oerritz's  information,  -and  how  it  was  gradually  cor- 
rected. It  has,  therefore,  seemed  advisable  to  reprint 
them  all. 


1  Extracted  from  Hudson  the  Navigator,   by  Dr.   Asher.      Kakluyt 
Society's  Pub.,  1860. 


186 


i. 

HUDSON'S  FOURTH  VOYAGE,  A  SUMMARY  PRINTED  ON  THE 
BACK  OF  THE  CHART.  —  An  Account  of  the  Voyage  and 
New  Found  Strait  of  Mr.  Hudson. 

Mr.  Hudson,  who  has  been  repeatedly  engaged  in 
the  search  of  a  western  passage,  long  intended  to  un- 
dertake an  expedition  for  this  same  purpose  through 
Lumley's  Inlet,  a  channel  leading  out  of  Davis' s 
Strait ;  as  we  ourselves  have  seen  pointed  out  on  his 
map,  which  is  in  Mr.  Plantius's  hands.  He  hoped 
thus  to  reach  the  Pacific  hy  the  west  of  Nova  Albion,1 
where  another  Englishman  had,  according  to  his  draw- 
ings, passed  through.  Hudson  found  after  many 
labors  the  way  represented  on  oar  map,  and  he  was 
only  prevented  from  following  it  further  up  by  the 
resistance  of  his  crew.  This  mutiny  took  place  under 
the  following  circumstances.  They  had  been  absent 
from  home  about  ten  months,  being  provisioned  only 
for  eight,  and  during  their  whole  voyage  they  had  met 
but  a  single  man,  who  brought  them  an  animal  which 
they  ate  ;  but  having  been  badly  treated,  the  man 
never  returned.  Having  thus  left  the  latitude  of  52° 
where  they  had  wintered,  and  having  sailed  up  to  60°, 
along  the  western  shore  of  their  bay,  they  fell  in  with 
a  wide  sea  and  with  a  great  flood  from  the  north-west. 
The  commander  intended  to  proceed  further.  The 
crew  then  arose  against  him,  and  put  all  the  officers 
out  of  the  ship  into  a  boat,  and  sailed  home  to  Eng- 


1  Nova  Albion  is  a  vague  term  embracing  all  the  possessions  of  the 
English  in  North  America.  —  Translator. 


187 


land.  For  this  cause  they  have,  on  their  arrival  at 
home,  all  been  put  in  prison  ;  and  in  the  course  of  the 
present  summer  (1612),  some  ships  have  again  been 
sent  to  those  regions  by  order  of  the  King  and  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales,1  to  discover  a  passage  and  to  look  for 
Mr.  Hudson  and  his  companions.  These  have  re- 
ceived orders  that,  in  case  the  passage  be  found,  two 
of  them  shall  pass  through  it,  the  third  shall  be  sent 
home  with  the  news,  which  we  are  expecting. 


n. 

HUDSON'S  THIKD  AND  FOURTH  VOYAGES. 

Prom  the  Prolegomena  to  the  First  Latin  Edition. 

But  as  even  after  these  voyages  of  William  Barentz,2 
the  English  had  repeatedly  tried  that  northern  way, 
the  Directors  of  the  East  India  Company  resolved 
three  years  ago  to  send  there  a  certain  Mr.  Hudson, 
;an  Englishman.  He  having  found  no  way  to  the  east, 
but,  instead  of  it,  the  ocean  almost  entirely  obstructed 
by  ice,  went  to  the  west,  and  returned  without  any 
profit  to  England.  He  was  then  sent  out  again  by  the 
.English,  and  his  voyage  was  far  more  prosperous,  but 
his  own  fortune  far  worse.  For,  having  after  many 
labors  passed  beyond  the  Terra  de  Baccalaos*  for  about 


1  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  a  young  man  of  great  promise,  who  died 
an  November,  1612. 

2  The  preceding  passage  of  the  Prolegomena,  or  preface  to  Hessel 
Gerritz's  work,  contains  a  short  account  of  Barentz's  voyages  to  the 
north-east  in  search  of  a  short  way  to  China.  —  Translator. 

-s  Terra  de  Baccalaos,  or  cod-fish  land,  is  a  vague  term,  embracing 
most  of  the  cod-fish  stations  north  of  49°.  On  the  old  maps  the  name 
is  generally  written  in  latitude  55°  or  56°.  —  Trans. 


188 


three  hundred  miles  l  to  the  west,  and  having  wintered 
there  in  latitude  52°,  and  being  sure  to  be  able  to  go- 
still  farther;  then,  not  only  he  himself,  but  all  his 
officers,  were  put  into  a  boat  by  their  mutinous  crew, 
and  left  to  drift  on  the  waves.  The  sailors  returned 
home  without  delay.  We  have  added  his  geographi- 
cal observations  to  the  present  book.  We  expect 
more  certain  news  by  the  ships  which  have  already 
been  sent  there ;  and  even  the  much  desired  report 
that  they  will  have  passed  through  the  strait.  These 
ships  will  thus  obtain  eternal  fame  and  glory.  *  *  * 

The  news  of  Hudson's  recently  found  passage  to 
the  north  of  Newfoundland,  and  the  hope  of  a  strait* 
is  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  the  Virginian  and! 
Floridan  savages,  who  all  state  most  distinctly  that 
their  country  is  washed  on  its  south-western  side  by  a 
vast  ocean,  in  which  they  have  seen  ships  similar  to 
those  of  the  English. 

III. 

HUDSON'S  THIRD  AND  FOURTH  VOYAGES. 

From  the  Latin  Edition  of  1612. 

An  Account  of  the  Discovery  of  the  North-western  Passage, 
which  is  expected  to  lead  to  China  and  Japan,  by  the 
North  of  the  American  Continent,  found  by  Mr.  H.  Hud- 
son, an  Englishman. 

The  English  nation,  encouraged  by  previous  success, 
have  grown  bolder  and  bolder  in  their  naval  enter- 
prise. Thus,  besides  their  frequent  voyages  to  the 


Probably  German  miles.    The  other  accounts  have  leucas  (leagues). 


189 


east,  to  Nova  Zembla  and  to  Spitzbergen,1  they  have 
made  almost  uninterrupted  efforts  to  discover  a  west- 
ern passage  or  strait  to  China  and  Japan.  They 
expected  that  sailing  by  this  road  they  would  have  on 
their  left  the  North  American  shores,  where  they  have 
founded  their  Virginian  colony. 

Several  of  those  who  set  out  in  search  of  that  pas- 
sage entered  Davis's  Straits.  Their  example  was  fol- 
lowed by  Captain  George  Winwood, 2  who  sailed  in 
1602  nearly  five  hundred  English  miles  up  that  strait, 
but  was  then  forced  by  the  ice  to  return.  He  now 
attempted  to  find  the  desired  passage  by  exploring  the 
narrows  under  61°,  which  the  English  call  Lumley's 
Inlet.  But  having  sailed  a  hundred  leagues  into 
them  he  again  turned  back,  partly  on  account  of  the 
sufferings  which  the  great  length  of  the  voyage  pro- 
duced among  his  crew,  partly  because  he  desired  to 
explore  two  more  bays,  situated  between  Lumley's 
Inlet  and  Baccalaos,  whence  the  sea  was  streaming  out 
with  great  might.  These  facts  are  stated  in  his  log 
books,  which  Mr.  Peter  Plantius,  a  diligent  investiga- 
tor of  such  matters,  communicated  to  Mr.  H.  Hudson 
during  his  stay  in  Amsterdam  in  1609,  when  Hudson 
was  going  to  undertake  a  search  for  a  passage  to  the 
north  of  Nova  Zembla  for  the  Directors  of  the  Dutch 
East  India  Company.  He  did  set  out,  but  achieved 
nothing  in  the  east ;  he  sailed  therefore  straight 
westward,  to  attempt  again  the  way  searched  out  and 
drawn  by  Captain  Winwood  ;  which  way,  after  passing 
for  about  a  hundred  leagues  through  a  narrow  chan- 
nel, leads  out  into  a  wide  sea.  Hudson  hoped  to  find 


1  Gerritz  has  Groenlandiam.  « 

2  George  Waymouth.     The  mistake  is  corrected  in  the  later  editions. 

25 


190 


a  way  through  this  sea,  though  Plantius  had  proved 
to  him  the  impossibility  of  success  from  the  accounts 
of  a  man  who  had  reached  the  western  shore  of  that 
sea.  Hudson  achieved,  in  1609,  nothing  memorable, 
even  by  this  new  way.  But  he  was  again  sent  out  in 
1610  by  his  own  countrymen.  He  now  followed  the 
way  through  Lumley's  Inlet,  pointed  out  to  him  by 
Winwood's  papers.  Having  passed  under  many  labours 
through  the  strait,  he  reached  the  latitude  of  52°, 
where  he  wintered.  Here  he  fell  in,  for  the  first  time 
during  the  voyage,  with  one  of  the  natives  of  the 
country.  This  Indian  brought  some  merchandise,  and 
was  armed  with  a  Mexican  or  Japanese  cris  ;l  from 
which  circumstances  Hudson  concluded  that  he  was 
not  far  from  Mexico.  The  native,  however,  not  being 
well  treated,  never  afterwards  returned.  The  English 
thus  lost  this  only  chance  of  adding  to  their  victuals, 
and  being  provided  for  eight  months  only,  they  left 
the  harbour  they  had  entered  and  sailed  along  the 
western  shore  of  the  bay  till  up  to  62°  or  63°  north. 
Here  they  found  a  wide  sea  and  more  powerful  tides 
from  the  north-west,  which  Hudson  and  the  officers 
intended  to  examine  further.  But  the  crew,  who  had 
already  been  two  months  longer  from  home  than  their 
provisions  had  been  intended  for,  rose  against  their 
commanders,  and  exposed  Hudson  and  his  friends  in 
a  boat  in  the  open  air.  The  crew  then  returned  by 
the  way  they  had  come,  and  reached  their  home  in 
September,  1611,  where  they  were  thrown  into  prison. 
They  are  going  to  be  kept  prisoners  till  their  Captain 
will  have  been  found.  In  search  of  him  three  ships 


1  Thus  the  Mexicans  call  their  flame-shaped  poniards.     (Gerritz's 
notes). 


191 


have  been  sent  out  this  summer  (1612),  by  the  Prince 
of  Wales  and  some  merchants.  They  are  to  explore 
the  passage  throughout,  and  when  they  have  found  the 
open  ocean,  one  of  them  is  to  return  with  the  desired 
news.  This  ship  is  daily  expected  home. 


n. 
HUDSON'S  THIRD  AND  FOURTH  VOYAGE. 

From  the  Second  Latin  Edition  (1613).    With  notes  indicating  the  variations  of  the 
Dutch  Edition. 

A  Description  and  Chart  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Strait  or 
Passage  by  the  North  of  the  American  Continent  to  China 
and  Japan. 

The  English,  stimulated  by  the  happy  success  of 
their  maritime  enterprise,  undergo  without  hesitation 
the  troubles  which  these  expeditions  involve ;  and  in 
spite  of  the  laborious  nature  of  their  voyages  to  the 
east,  to  Moscovia,  Nova  Zembla,  and  Spitzbergen, 
they  are  still  bent  on  new  discoveries.  They  have 
chiefly  made  uninterrupted  efforts  to  find  a  passage  in 
the  west,  where  they  have  already  occupied  Virginia 
and  peopled  it  with  their  colonists.  This  passage  they 
have  sought  for  between  Greenland  and  New  Francia. 
Their  efforts  have  as  yet  been  fruitless,  and  through 
ice  and  snow  they  have  in  vain  fought  their  way  up  to 
70°  or  even  80°  of  north  latitude.  The  strait  which 
they  have  thus  explored  bears  the  name  of  its  first 
discoverer,  John  Davis.  The  last  navigator  who  went 
along  that  way  was  Captain  George  Waymouth,  who 
sailed  in  the  year  1602,  and  who,  after  a  voyage  of 
five  hundred  leagues,  was,  like  his  predecessors,  forced 


192 


by  the  ice  to  return.  But  on  purpose  to  draw  at  least 
some  advantage  from  his  expedition,  he  directed  his 
course  to  the  bay  under  61°,  which  the  English  call 
Lumley's  Inlet,  and  sailed  a  hundred  leagues  in  a 
south-westerly  direction  into  it.  Having  gone  so  far, 
he  found  himself  landlocked,  and  despairing  of  a  pas- 
sage, he  was,  by  the  weakness  of  his  crew  and  by 
other  .causes,  forced  to  return.  He,  however,  first 
explored  two  more  bays  between  that  country  and 
Baccalaos,  and  found  there  the  water  wide  and  mighty 
like  an  open  sea,  with  very  great  tides. 

This  voyage,  though  far  from  fulfilling  Waymouth's 
hopes,  assisted  Hudson  very  materially  in  finding  his 
famous  strait.  George  Waymouth's  logbooks  fell  in- 
to the  hands  of  the  liev.  Peter  Plantius,  who  pays  the 
most  diligent  attention  to  such  new  discoveries,  chiefly 
when  they  may  be  of  advantage  to  our  own  country  ; 
and  when  in  1609,  Hudson  was  preparing  to  undertake 
a  voyage  for  the  Directors  of  the  East  India  Company, 
in  search  of  a  passage  to  China  and  Cathay  by  the 
north  of  Nova  Zembla,  he  obtained  these  logbooks 
from  Peter  Plantius.  Out  of  them  he  learned  this 
whole  voyage  of  George  "Waymouth,  through  the 
narrows  north  of  Virginia,  till  into  the  great  inland 
sea;  and  thence  he  concluded  that  this  road  would 
lead  him  to  India.  But  Peter  Plantius  refuted  this 
latter  opinion  from  the  accounts  of  a  man  who  had 
searched  and  explored  the  western  shore  of  that  sea, 
and  had  stated  that  it  formed  an  unbroken  line  of 
coast.  Hudson,  in  spite  of  this  advice,  sailed  west- 
ward to  try  what  chance  of  a  passage  might  be  left 
there,  having  first  gone  to  Nova  Zembla,  where  he 
found  the  sea  entirely  blocked  up  by  ice  and  snow. 
He  seems,  however,  according  to  the  opinion  of  our 


193  , 

countrymen,  purposely  to  have  missed  the  right  road 
to  the  western  passage,  unwilling  to  benefit  Holland 
and  the  directors  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  by 
such  a  discovery.  All  he  did  in  the  west  in  1609,  was 
to  exchange  his  merchandise  for  furs  in  New  France. 
He  then  returned  safely  to  England,  where  he  was 
accused  of  having  undertaken  a  voyage  to  the  detri- 
ment of  his  own  country.  Still  anxious  to  discover  a 
western  passage,  he  again  set  out  in  1610,  and  directed 
his  course  to  Davis's  strait.  There  he  entered  in  lati- 
tude 61°  the  path  pointed  out  by  George  Way  mouth, 
and  explored  all  the  shores  laid  down  in  the  present 
chart,1  up  to  the  height  of  63°.  He  then  sailed  to  the 
south,  down  to  54°,2  where  he  wintered.  When  he 
left  his  winter  quarters  he  ran  along  the  western  shore 
for  forty  leagues,  and  fell  in,  under  60°,  with  a  wide 
sea,  agitated  by  mighty  tides  from  the  northwest. 
This  circumstance  inspired  Hudson  with  great  hope  of 
finding  a  passage,  and  his  officers  were  quite  ready  to 
undertake  a  further  search;  but  the  crew,  weary  of 
a  long  voyage,  and  unwilling  to  continue  it,  bethought 
themselves  of  the  want  of  victuals,  with  which  they 
had  been  provided  for  eight  months  only,  and  to  which 
no  additions  had  been  made  during  the  voyage,  except 
one  large  animal  which  an  Indian  brought.  This 
Indian  was  armed  with  a  Mexican  or  Japonese  cris 
(poniard),  from  which  fact  Hudson  concluded  that  a 
place  which  possessed  Mexican  arms  and  productions 
could  not  be  far  distant  from  that  country.3  At  last 


llfis  Chart  (Zyne  Caerte),  according  to  the  Dutch  edition;  a  fac 
simile  is  in  Hak.  Soc.  Pub.  for  1860. 

2  52  degrees  (52  ste.  graed),  Dutch  edition. 

3  Wherefrom  it  appears  that  the  people  of  that  country  have  some 
communication  with  those  along  the  Pacific  ocean.     (Daer  wt  datteC 


194 


the  ill  will  of  the  crew  prevailed.  They  exposed  Hud- 
son and  the  other  officers  in  a  boat  on  the  open  sea, 
and  returned  into  their  country.  There  they  have 
been  thrown  into  prison  for  their  crime,  and  will  be 
kept  there  until  their  captain  shall  be  safely  brought 
home.1  For  that  purpose  some  ships. have  been  sent 
out  last  year  (1612)  by  the  late  Prince  of  Wales  ;2  and 
by  the  directors  of  the  Moscovia  company,  about  the 
return  of  which  nothing  has  as  yet  been  heard.  We 
may  therefore  hope  that  they  have  passed  beyond  that 
strait,  and  we  do  not  think  that  we  shall  hear  anything 
about  them  before  they  return  to  England  from  East 
India  or  China  and  Japan,  by  the  same  road  by  which 
they  went  out.  This,  we  hope  and  pray,  may  come  to- 
pass.  NOT  has  the  zeal  of  our  fellow  citizens  of  Am- 
sterdam cooled  down.  They  have  some  months  ago- 
sent  out  a  ship  to  search  for  a  passage  or  for  Hudson's 
Strait,  to  try  whether  any  convenient  intercourse  can 


ie  natie  daer  te  lande  phemeenschap  te  hebben  met  die  aen  de  Zuy- 
•der  Zee.)     Dutch  edition. — Translator. 

1  The  Dutch  edition,  published  several  months  before  the  Latin,  has 
from  this  point  an  entirely  different  termination.  "  He  is  being 
searched  for  by  the  ships  which  have  been  sent  out  this  summer  by 
the  merchants  and  by  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  is  said  to  assist  them. 
These  ships  are  not  expected  to  return  before  they  will  have  been  in 
Mare  del  Zur.  We  wish  them  good  luck."  (Die  ghesocht  wort  van  de 
ischeepens  die  dese  somer  derwaert  gesonden  zijn  van  de  Coopluyden  ende 
van  den  Prince  van  Wallis  die  daer  de  hand  aen  hout,  soo  gheseyt  wort^ 
Welcke  scheepens  men  meent  niet  te  sullen  weder  komen  eer  sy  al  heel  sullen 
tot  in  Mar  del  Zur  geweest  hebben,  daer  wy  haer  gheluck  toe  wenscheri). 

3  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  died  in  November,  1612,  between  the 
publication  of  the  first  and  second  editions  of  Hessel  Gerritz.  The 
ships  seat  out  were  commanded  by  Button,  the  discoverer  of  Button's 
Bay,  a  gentleman  of  Prince  Henry's  household.  Button  wintered  in 
Hudson's  Bay,  and  returned  in  autumn,  1613. —  Translator. 


195 


be  established  with  those  places,  or,  if  this  should  be 
found  impossible,  to  trade  on  the  coasts  of  ~New  France.1 


1  For  an  account  of  this  expedition  see  O'Callaghan,  History  of  New 
Netherland,  i,  pp.  68,  69.  —  Translator.  See  also  Henry  Hudson  in 
Holland,  pp.  31,  32.  By  Henry  C.  Murphy. 


INDEX, 


A. 


Adams,  C.,  extracts  from  his  book 
(1553),  22,  24 

Admiral,  meaning  of  the  word,  24. 

Albany,  Hudson's  arrival  at,  163, 
184 

Alcock,  T.,  Muscovy  Company's 
Agent  at  Moscow,  65 

Aldworth,  (T.),  of  Bristol,  corres- 
pondence with  Sir  F.  Walsing- 
ham,  93,  94,  97 

America,  discoveries  in,  92,  93,  94, 
97  ;  argument  of  Carlile  con- 


Barnes,  Anne,  to  whom  married, 
95,  96 

Barnes  or  Barne,  Frederick,  82 

Barnes  family  arms,  82. 

Barnes,  Sir  George  the  elder,  28  ; 
consultation  on  north-west 
passage,  53  ;  friend  of  C.  Hud- 
son, 64  ;  sketch  of,  70,  71,  72 ; 
mayor  of  London,  73 ;  oil 
portrait  of,  74  ;  eulogized,  75 ; 
his  death,  76;  his  funeral,  77  ; 
his  wife,  77,  78 ;  mention  of 
daughter  Anne,  95,  96 ;  re- 
lationship with  the  Hudsons, 
77,  97 


cerning,  97,  101,  105 
Amsterdam,  excitement  about  dis-  Barnes,    Sir  George,  2d,    80,    81  ; 

coveries,    143,   190-195:    con-,          sketch  of,  79;  descendants  of, 

tract  with  Hudson,  150  82 

Argal's    discoveries  (1610),   156n, ' Barnes,  John,   one  who  was  with 

164n.  Hudson  on  his  second  voyage, 

Arnall,  Ludlow,  one  of  Hudson's!         64,  82 

crew,  2d  and  4th  voyages,  136  Barnes,  William,  son  of  Sir  George 
Asher,  Dr.  G.  M.,  author  of  Hud-j          2d,  127 


son   the   Navigator,    12,    133, 

134,  172 

Aston,  W.,  citizen  of  London,  57 
Astrachan,  English  traders  in,  55, 

56 

Astrology  of  Dr.  Dee,  175 
Author's    conclusions    respecting 

Hudson,  7,  118. 


B. 


Baccalaos,  meaning  of,  188,  190 

Bancroft,  George,  on  H.  Hudson, 
167  . 

Barentson,  Capt.  W.,  voyage  of, 
142,  143,  144;  memoranda  con- 
cerning, 153,  187 

Barnes,  spelling  of  the   name,  71. 

26 


Barneveldt,  0.,  course  with  the 
great  trading  companies,  145 

Baxter,  T.,  one  of  crew,  first  voy- 
age, 13 

Bassendine,  Capt.  J.,  (1568),  59 

Beale,  Mr.  (1583),  53 

Best,  R.,  at  Moscow  (1555),  60 

Beuberry,  J.,  one  of  crew,  first 
voyage,  13 

Bird,  John,  adventurer  with  C. 
Hudson  (1580),  91,  92 

Bonaventure  ship,  26,  88 

Boty,  Ivor,  treatise  by,  153 

Bourk,  R.,  Earl  of  Clanricade,  96 

Bowes,  Sir  J.,  ambassador  to  Russia 
(1583),  140, 

Bramlie,  T.,  associated  with  C. 
Hudson  (1578),  91 

Brazil  voyages,  90,  9.1 


198 


Bridewell,  picture  of  Sir  G. 
Barnes,  73,  74,  76 

Bristol,  trade  with  America  (1583), 
102 

Brodhead,  J.  R.,  History  of  New 
York,  on  Hudson's  voyages,  167 

Browne,  Capt.  R.,  (1568),  59 

Brunei,  0.,  voyage,  (1580),   141 

Burgon's  Life  of  Gresham,  34 

Burrough  or  Burrow,  Christopher, 
Muscovy  Company's  servant, 
and  a  friend  of  C.  Hudson, 
(1579-81),  19,  54,  90 

Burrough,  Capt.  Stephen,  (1553), 
26,  59  ;  in  Muscovy  Company's 
service,  (1574-1580),  88,  89. 

Burrough  or  Burrow,  William, 
letter  to,  54;  letter  to  Russian 
Emperor,  (1570),  84-88; 
sketch  of,  88 ;  his  map  of 
Russia,  89 ;  report  to  Mus- 
covy Company,  101,  123,  179 

Busse  Island,  160 

Button,  Capt.  T.,  of  the  Muscovy 
Co.,  and  adventurer  to  Vir- 
ginia, 127,  194 

C. 

Cabot,  Sebastian,  plan  of  search  for 
N.  East  passage,  20-23;  first 
Governor  of  Muscovy  Co.,  28 

Calendars  (Extracts  from)  of  Chan- 
cery Proceedings,  in  Reign  of 
Elizabeth,  29,  30,  66,  71 

Calendars  of  State  Papers,    127 

Camden's  derivation  of  Hudson  in 
his  Remaines,  20,  69 

Candish,  R.,  a  friend  of  Dr.  Dee, 
51,  179 

Candish,  Thomas,  51,  179 

Cape  Cod  seen  by  Hudson,  161 

Cape  May  discovered,  183 

Cape  Sable,   182 

Carlile,  Alexander,  78,  92 ;  sketch 
of,  96  n 

Carlile,    Christopher,  son    in  law 
of  Sir    F.    Walsingham,    95 
his  Discourse  on  a   voyage    to 
America,    97-100  ;    Plans   of- 
fered with   C.  Hudson  to  th( 
Muscovy    Company  for  a  voy- 
age, 101-105,  120 ;   argumen 
in  1583,  141 


athay,  141.     See  also  China, 
aushen  Bay,  104 

ecil,Sir  R.,  patent  for  exportation 
of  cloth,  108  ;  friend  of  Hak- 
luyt,  128 

Chamberlayne,  R.,  notice  of,  79n  ; 
member  of  Muscovy  Company, 
183 

Chesapeake  Bay,  156,  183. 

China  or  Cathay,  north-west  or 
northeast  passage  to,  53,  142, 
163,  189,  192 

Jlinton,  Lord  Edward,  of  Sem- 
pringham,  friend  of  Henry 
Hudson  the  elder,  34  -  36 

Colines,  William,  mate,  Hudson's 
first  voyage,  13 

Commerce  of  Europe,  20-22 

Companies  (commercial),   of  Lon- 
don, their  names,  32n 
]ooke,    J.,     sailor    with    Hudson, 
first  voyage,   13  ;  second  voy- 
age, 136 

Corbett,  R.,  owner  of  Leighton 
Bussard,  67 

Corney,  Bolton,  extracts  from  his 
Sir  H.  Middleton's  voyage,  15, 
17,  18 

Cotes,  T.,  extracts  from  his  ac- 
count of  a  voyage,  104 

Coleman,  J.,  sailor  with  Hudson, 
first  and  third  voyages,  13, 
157 

Cumberland,  George,  Earl  of,  let- 
ter on  the  monopoly  of  expor- 
tation of  cloth  (1601),  108- 
111 


D. 


Dam,  P.  Van,  historian  of  corpo- 
ration of  Amsterdam,  150  ; 
preserves  the  contract  with 
Hudson  and  the  instructions, 
151 

Dartmouth,  Eng.,  164 

Davis,  Capt.  John,  precursors  of 
his  voyages,  80 ;  from  Hud- 
son's journal  on,  139;  T. 
Hudson's  intercourse  with 
him,  154;  mentioned  by  Dr. 
Dee,  178,  179  ;  from  Gerritz's 
tract  concerning,  192 


199 


Davis  Straits,  of  a  northwest  pas- 
sage through,  158,  164;  ex- 
tract from  Gerritz's  tract  con- 
cerning, 189,  190,  193 

Day,  R.,  sailor  with  Hudson,  first 
voyage,  13 

Dee,  Dr.  John,  notice  of  his  life, 
49,  52,  175 ;  friendship  with 
the  Hudsons,  119;  extracts 
from  his  diary,  48,  50-52, 
93,177-179;  diary  noticed, 
176 

Delaware  Bay,  discovered  by  Hud- 
son, 6  ;  sources  of  information 
concerning  the  discovery,  11, 
44  ;  narrative  of  the  discovery, 
161-163,  167,  180-183 

Delaware,  discovered  before  New 
York,  6,  7 

Delaware  river,  canal  uniting  its 
waters  with  Hudson  river,  168 

De  Laet,  extracts  from  his  book 
respecting  Hudson's  discover- 
ies, 163,  164,  182 

Denmark's  tribute  from  the  Mus- 
covy Company,  99 

Devereaux,  R.,  relative  of  G. 
Barnes  and  Sir  F.  Walsingham, 
96 

De  Whale,  John,  at  St.  Nicholas, 
(1579),  40 

Digges,  Sir  D.,  furtherer  of  Hud- 
son's voyages,  14,  51,  125, 
127 

Digges,  Thomas,  father  of  Sir  D. 
Digges,  51 

Discovery  voyages.  See  America  ; 
N.  K.  passage  ;  N.  W.  passage. 

Dixwell,  Basil,  son  of  Charles,  44, 
45 

Dixwell,  Charles,  married  Abigail 
Hudson,  daughter  of  Henry 
the  elder,  44,  46 

Dixwell,  Mark,  once  possessor,  of 
the  Hudson  estates,  46 

Donck.     See  Van  der  Donck,   A. 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  C.  Carlile,  his 
second  officer  (1585),  104  ; 
friend  of  Hakluyt,  128;  men- 
tioned by  Dr.  Dee,  178 

Dry  Cape,   183 

Dutch  East  India  Company,  Hud- 
son's services  to,  14;  alarm  at 
his  discoveries,  139  ;  measures 


Dutch  East  India  Co.  (continued): 
adopted,  142  ;  its  contract  with 
Hudson,  145-148,  172  ;  outbid 
the  French,  149,  150  ;  its  com- 
pensation to  Hudson,  151, 152  ; 
Hondius  and  Plantius  interme- 
diaries, 154, 155:  Hudson's  let- 
ters to  the  company  lost,  157  ; 
fourth  voyage  proposed,  165  ; 
extracts  from  Gerritz's  Hudson 
tract  concerning  its  schemes, 
187,  190-193 

Dutch  trade,  in  Russia,  98,  140, 
141  ;  extension  of,  144  ;  in 
cloth,  112  -  113;  rivalry  in 
trade  with  the  English,  130; 
companies  for  trade,  142 ;  ex- 
tracts from  De  Laet  on,  184 


E. 


East  India  Company.  See  Dutch  ; 
English. 

East  India  trade,  Dutch  eagerness 
to  secure  a  share,  144 

East  India  voyages,  Corney's  ac- 
count of  mutilations  of  the 
records,  15 

Edge's  Captain,  Tract,  "Briefe 
discoverie,"  12  ;  testimony 
on  Dutch  trade  with  Russia, 
140 

Edward  Bonaventure  ship,  enters 
White  sea  (1553),  26,  88 

Edwards,  A.,  a  factor  of  Muscovy 
Company  (1579),  54;  men- 
tioned in  Killingworth's  letter, 
60 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  accompanied  by 
Dr.  Dee  (1579),  52;  letters 
patent  granted  for  discovery 
(1578),  92 ;  entertained  by 
Sir  F.  Walsingham  (1589), 
96  ;  R.  Hakluyt's  services  to 
the  Queen,  174;  Dr.  Dee's 
intercourse  with  the  Queen, 
176,  177 

Elkin,  W.,  associate  with  C.  Hudson 
for  voyage  to  Brazil,  91. 

Ellesmere,  Lord,  letters  to,  105, 
1)1,  117 

Emery,  an  evil  adviser  of  J.  Davis, 
178 


200 


English  East  India  Company  sends 
Hudson  on  his  4th  voyage,  129 ; 
alliance  with  the  Muscovy 
Company,  130,  131  ;  followed 
by  the  incorporation  of  Dutch 
E.  I.  Co.,  in  1602,  145;  Way- 
mouth  in  its  employ,  155 ; 
grand  festival  of,  in  1609,  166 

English  trade  reviving,  21 ;  stimu- 
lated by  Cabot's  schemes,  23  ; 
trade  with  Russia,  85,  86.— 
See  Muscovy  Company  ;  Dutch 
trade. 


F. 


Faroe  Is.,   visited   by  Hudson   on 

3d  voyage,  160 
Fellowship  of  English  merchants, 

28 
Ferrers,  G.,  Lord  of  disports,  and 

Sir  G.  Barnes  (1553),  72 
Finch,  John,  remark  on  C.  and  W. 

Hudson,  42  n 
Fotherby,  Capt.,  had  seen  Hudson's 

journal,  13 

French  East  India  Company,   pro- 
posed formation,   149 
French   fishermen  encountered  by 

Hudson,  160 
French    trade,     increase    of,    149, 

182 
Friesland,  called  Galindia,  177 


0. 


Garrard,  A.,  associates  with  C.  Hud- 
son for  a  voyage,  91 

Garrard,  Sir  Wm.,  Governor  of 
the  Muscovy  Company,  83, 
85,  86.  —  See  also  Gerrard,  or 
Garrett,  W.,  a  first  consul  of 
the  Muscovy  Company,  28 

Gates,  Sir  T.,  adventurer  to  Vir- 
ginia, 126 

Gerard,  P.,  agent  of  Muscovy 
Company  (1579),  54 

Gerrard,  W.,  portrait  in  a  picture 
by  Holbein,  74 ;  at  the  funeral 
of  Lady  Barnes,  79  ;  daughter 
married  to  Sir  G.  Barnes  2d, 
81,  179— See  also  Garrard  W. 


Gerrard,  T.,  interested  in  Muscovy 
Company  and  Virginia,  127 

Serritz  (Hessel),  extracts  from 
his  tracts  on  Hudson's  3d 
and  4th  voyages,  185-195 
Gilbert,  Adrian,  mentioned  in 
Dee's  Diary,  51,  52,53,  178,  179 
Gilbert,  SirH.,  associates  with  Dr. 
Dee,  51  ;  petitions  the  Queen 
for  letters  patent  for  discov- 
eries, 92,  95 ;  recommended 
in  a  letter  by  Sir  F.  Walsing- 
ham,  92,  93  ;  Cavlile's  argu- 
ment in  favor  of  Gilbert's  voy- 
age, 99;  departure  of  his 
fleet  (1583),  104  ;  C.  Hudson's 
interest  in  his  scheme,  105 ; 
of  H.  Gilby's  being  the  same 
name,  136,  137  ;  his  enter- 
prise a  rival  one  to  the  Dutch, 
141;  notices  of  him  in  Dee's 
Diary,  177,  178 

Gilbert,  Sir  J.,  friend  of  Dr.  Dee, 
51,  93,  178 

Gilbert,  Ralegh,  Virginian  adven- 
turer, 126 

Gilby,  Humphry,  of  its  being  the 
same  as  H.  Gilbert,  136 

Glover,  S.,  letter  of  Muscovy  Com- 
pany to  him  and  C.  Hudson 
(1560),  62,  63-65 

Gosnold,  B.,  Virginian  adventurer 
(1604)  with  Capt,  Smith,  126  ; 
named  Cape  Cod  (1602),  161  ; 
his  voyages  studied  by  Hud- 
son, 155 

Graie,  R.,  bearer  of  letter  to  Em- 
peror of  Russia  (1555),  27 

Gray,  M.,  servant  of  Muscovy  Co. 
in  Russia,  60 

Green,  H.,  sailor  of  Hudson,  to  be 
of  the  Prince's  Guard,  126 

Greenland,  189  ;  north-west  pas- 
sage by,  191 

Grenville,  R.,  petitions  the  Queen 
for  letters  patent  of  discove- 
ries, 92,  95 

Gresham,  Sir  J.,  the  elder,  sheriff', 
33,  37 

Gresham,  Sir  J.,  the  younger,  as- 
sistant in  the  Muscovy  Co., 
29 ;  sketch  of,  37 

Gresham,  Sir  T.  Burgon's  life  of, 
33,  34,  54 


201 


Grigs',    T. ,    purser    on  voyage    to 

Brazil  (1580),  91 
Grotius,  H.,  connection  with  the 

establishment  of  the  Dutch  E. 

I.  Company,  145 
Guinea  Company,  129 


H. 


Haie,  E.,  forsakes  Gilbert's  expe- 
dition, 104 

Hakluyt,  Richard,  source  of  much 
of  Purchas's  knowledge,  15  ; 
depositary  of  the  records  of 
contemporary  voyages,  16 ; 
does  not  mention  Hudson  the 
navigator,  18 ;  preserved  Dee's 
addresses  to  Pet,  49  ;  friend 
of  Dr.  Dee,  51 ;  his  varied 
ways  of  spelling  Hudson,  65  ; 
Walsingham  and  Aldworth 
mention  him  in  Gilbert's  en- 
terprise, 94,  95;  friend  of 
Capt.  J.  Smith,  126  ;  friend  of 
the  Hudsons  and  of  Hudson 
the  navigator,  128  ;  sketch  of 
life,  173  ;  visits  Dr.  Dee,  177 

Half  Moon,  ship,  at  Sandy  Hook, 
Sept.  3,  1609,  7  ;  leaves  Am- 
sterdam, Ap.  4,  156  ;  Coleman 
on  board,  157 ;  strikes  the 
sands  in  Delaware  Bay,  162 
and  note;  reaches  Amsterdam 
(1610),  166;  lost,  166;  ex- 
tracts from  De  Laet's  work, 
182 

Halliwell,  J.  0.,  editor  of  Dr.  Dee's 
diary,  176 

Hautory,  T.,  an  agent  of  the 
Muscovy  company,  60 

Hawkins,  Sir  Richard,  navigator, 
visits  Dr.  Dee,  178 

Hearse,  described  (1555)  38 

Heemskirk,  J.  Van,  exertion  in 
Arctic  navigation,  144 

Hendor,  Capt.,  explanation  to  Dr. 
Dee,  179 

Hendrik,  employed  instead  of 
Henry  in  Hudson's  name,  150 

Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  favors  H. 
Hudson,  126  ;  sends  ships  to 
look  for  Hudson,  187,  194  ; 
death  of,  194 


Herdson,  same  name  as  Hudson, 
19,28,  29 

Herdson,  Henry,  named  in  Charter 
of  1555,  28 

Heyward,  Sir  Rowland,  of  London, 
receives  Horsey,  80 

Hilles,  T.,  sailor  with  Hudson,  who 
saw  the  mermaid,  138 

Hitchin,  Herts.,  an  estate  of  H. 
Hudson,  the  elder,  33 

Hodderde,  same  name  as  Hudson,  67 

Hoddesden,    Hoddesdon,     Hoddes- 
•  donn,  same  name  as  Hudson, 
67,  71 

Hoddesden,  name  used  for  Chris- 
topher Hudson,  106,  116,  117 

Hoddesdon  town,  origin  of  the 
Hudsons,  69 

Hoddesdon,  Ex.,  Sheriff  of  Bed- 
fordshire, 71 

Hodgeson,  Henry.  See  Hogeson, 
Henry 

Hodson,  Hodsdon,  Hodgson,  Hodge 
&c.,  &c.,  same  names  as  Hud- 
son, 19,  20 

Hogeson,  Henry,  the  same  person 
as  one  named  Henry  Hudson, 
and  one  named  Henry  Hodge- 
son,  57,  58, 

Holbein,  Hans,  painter  of  picture 
relating  to  Bridewell,  and  Sir 
G.  Barnes,  73,  74. 

Hondins,  Jodocus,  map-maker, 
153;  adviser  and  interpreter 
of  Hudson.  154;  engraver,  172 

Hopewell  ship,  Capt.  Hudson, 
1007,  13 

Horsey,  Sir  Jerome,  his  Russian 
travels  referred  to,  62,  63  ;  his 
friendship  with  Barnes  rnd 
Walsingham,  80  ;  sketch  of  his 
life,  80;  illustrates  character 
of  the  servants  of  the  Muscovy 
Company,  121 

Houtman,  navigator,  doubles  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  1597,  144 

Howard,  Lord  Admiral,  friend  of 
Hudson,  128  ;  Hakluyt's  let- 
ter to  him  on  navigation,  173 

Hudson,  various  modes  of  spelling 
the  name,  18,  19;  twenty-one 
forms  of  the  name,  30 

Hudson  families,  pedigrees  in 
Sims,  70 


202 


Hudson  family  of  London,  69 
Hudson  family  of  Sussex,  41 
Hudson,  Barbara,  wife  of  H.  Hud- 
son the  elder,  45 ;  in  1568  wid- 
ow of  Sir  R.  Champion,  66 
Hudson,  Sir  Christopher,  senior,  66 
Hudson.  Christopher,  Agent  of  the 
Muscovy  Company  (1560),  19, 
20;  first  mention  of,  60;  in 
1554  came  from  Dantzic,  61 ; 
in  1559  was  at  Vologda,  62; 
letter  to  him  from  Muscovy 
Company,  62,  65 ;  probably 
son  of  Sir  Christopher  Hudson, 
66 ;  varied  spelling  of  the 
name,  66-68,  84,  88,  117; 
intimacy  with  Sir  George 
Barnes,  71  ;  voyage  to  the 
Narve  in  1569,  83  ;  agent  of 
the  Muscovy  Company,  83 ; 
his  fighting  merchant  fleet, 
84 ;  his  letter  to  the  Emperor 
of  Russia,  84,  85,  122 ;  living 
in  England  in  1580-90  ;  asso- 
ciates for  a  voyage  to  Brazil, 
91 ;  relationship  with  the 
Barnes  family,  97  ;  his  active 
zeal  for  Gilbert's  voyage,  105, 
136 ;  Governor  of  the  mer- 
chant adventurers,  106,  107, 
128;  his  letter  of  1601  to 
Lord  Ellesmereon  the  monop- 
olies in  trade,  111-116  ;  period 
of  his  death,  117;  resided  in 
London,  119;  trained  up  as 
servant  of  the  Muscovy  Com- 
pany, 121  ;  of  his  bringing 
Henry  Hudson  to  the  notice 
of  the  Dutch,  132 
Hudson,  Christopher,  a  son  of 
William  Hudson,  living  in 
1635,  46,  47 
Hudson,  Edmund  or  Edward,  son 
of  H.  Hudson,  the  elder,  45, 
46,  47 

Hudson,  Henry,  of  Stourton,  Lin- 
colnshire, probably  of  Hud- 
son's family,  34 
Hudson,  Henry,  the  elder,  a  found- 
er of  the  Muscovy  Company 
in  1555,  18 ;  his  name  also 
spelled  Herdson,  19,  20;  as 
found  in  the  Charter  of  the 
Company,  28,  29 ;  member  of 


Hudson,  Henry,  (continued):  the 
Company  of  Skinners,  31, 
32  ;  Alderman  of  London,  33  ; 
was  he  of  Stourton?  34;  es- 
tates purchased  by  him  from 
Lord  Clinton,  36,  37  ;  died  at 
London  (1555),  37;  account 
of  his  funeral,  38  ;  his  widow 
and  his  monument,  family 
arms,  40,  41 ;  his  character, 
43  ;  was  ancestor  of  H.  Hud- 
son, navigator,  44;  the  names 
of  his  sons  and  daughter,  45 ; 
information  concerning  them, 
45  -  47,  57  ;  relationship  to 
him  of  the  several  Christo- 
pher Hudsons,  66,  68,  70; 
conclusion  of  the  author  that 
H.  Hudson  the  navigator  was 
his  grandson,  118  ;  his  resi- 
dence in  London  with  others 
of  the  family,  119 ;  his  son 
John  and  relatives,  127 
Hudson,  Henry  of  Hitchin,  Hert- 
fordshire, 33 

Hudson,  Henry,  son  of  the  elder 
Henry,  citizen  of  London 
(1559),  57,  58 

Hudson,  Henry,  the  navigator, 
object  of  this  discourse  con- 
cerning him,  6,  7,  11  ;  pre- 
vious ignorance  of  his  early 
life  8,  9,  10,  123,  124 ;  of 
the  discoveries  of  the  author 
11  ;  works  treating  of  Hud- 
sou,  12  ;  compilations  made 
of  his  journals,  17  ;  inves- 
tigations of  his  ancestry, 
44 ;  his  relatives,  Sir  G. 
Barnes  and  others,  81 ;  his 
contemporaries,  81 ;  au- 
thor's conclusion  that  Hud- 
son was  probably  a  grand- 
son of  Henry  Hudson  the 
elder,  118;  was  citizen  of 
London,  119;  his  training 
in  the  employ  of  the  Mus- 
covy Company,  120,  123;  his 
first  two  voyages  were  for 
the  Company,  125;  his 
interest  at  court,  125,  126; 
his  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances, 126,  127  ;  Hakluyt 
one  of  his  friends,  128  :  his 


203 


Hudson,  H.  (cont.) :  relations  with 
Christopher  Hudson,  128, 
132  ;  his  death,  167  ;  no  por- 
trait known,  172 ;  his  de- 
scendants, appendix,  171, 
172,  173 

His   theory    of    an    open 

polar  sea,  9 ;  his  name  ap- 
plied to  great  discoveries, 
9,  189,  190;  influence  of 
Davis's  explorations  upon 
him,  53 

His  first  voyage  1607,  13  ; 

ship  and  crew,  13 ;  Capt.  in 
service  of  the  Muscovy  Com- 
pany, 9,  14  ;  sketch  of  first 
voyage  and  discoveries,  133, 
134  ;  has  been  regarded  as 
earliest  information  of  his 
career,  134,  135 

His  second  voyage,  1608, 

14  ;  names  of  some  of  his 
companions,  136;  in  June 
near  Nova  Zembla,  137;  a 
mermaid  seen,  137 ;  at- 
tempts for  a  north-east  pas- 
sage, 138 ;  purposed  next 
voyage  to  try  for  a  north- 
west passage,  138 

His  third  voyage,    called 

into  the  service  of  the 
Dutch,  14,  139,  140;  the' 
feeling  created  in  Holland 
by  his  second  voyage.  146; 
his  motives  for  entering  the 
Dutch  Company's  service, 
147  ;  intercourse  with  Plan 
tius,  148 ;  attempts  of  the 
French  to  secure  his  servi- 
ces through  Le  Maire,  149  ; 
his  contract  with  the  Dutch 
Company,  150 ;  object  and 
route  described  in  the  con- 
tract, 151  ;  his  compensa- 
tion, 151 ;  his  memorandum 
on  documents  loaned  him 
by  Plantius,  153 ;  inter- 
course with  Hondius,  154  ; 
collation  of  Smith's  maps 
and  Waymouth's  log-books, 
155 ;  departure  from  Am- 
sterdam in  the  Half  Moon, 
156  ;  loss  of  journals  of  the 
voyage,  157. 


Hudson,  H.  (continued) :  the  route 
pursued,  1157,  58  ;  determi- 
nation to  change  for  a  north- 
west route  to  the  Indies, 
159,  160;  steers  S.  W.  to 
the  Grand  Banks,  160;  to 
Penobscot  Bay,  160;  by 
Cape  Cod  to  James  River, 
161  ;  discovers  Delaware 
Bay,  161  ;  navigation  in  the 
Bay,  162,  163  ;  anchors  at 
Sandy  Hook,  163;  arrival 
at  Dartmouth,  England,  164, 
165  ;  Hudson  and  crew  not 
allowed  to  leave  England 
for  Holland,  165,  166 ;  De 
Laet's  account,  182-185; 
Gerritz's  account,  185  - 195 

His    fourth    voyage,    at 

English  expense,  14,  167 ; 
object  was  a  northwest  pas- 
sage, 167  ;  his  death  from 
desertion  by  a  mutinous 
crew,  14,  lo'7;  coSperation 
in  the  voyage,  of  Muscovy 
and  E.  1.  Companies,  129  ; 
Gerritz's  account,  186-195 
Hudson,  James,  agent  of  James  I, 

68 

Hudson,  John,  son  of  Hudson  the 
elder,  and  brother  of  Thomas, 
45,  145 ;  his  estates  fall  to  M. 
Dixwell,  46,  47 ;  owner  of 
lands  in  Kent,  70 
Hudson,  John,  member  of  the  Mus- 
covy and  Virginia  Companies, 
127  ;  perhaps  the  same  as  the 
preceding,  127 

Hudson,  John,  sailor  on  Hudson's 
first  voyage,  13  ;  also  on  se- 
cond voyage,  136  ;  son  of  Hud- 
son the  navigator,  151,  171, 
172 

Hudson,  Rudolph,  died  at  London 
(1530),  relative  perhaps  of  H. 
Hudson  the  elder,  38 
Hudson,  Thomas,  intimate  with 
Dr.  Dee,  49 ;  pecuniary  trans- 
actions with  Dr.  Dee,  50;  asso- 
ciates with  the  great  men  of 
the  time,  51  ;  consults  with 
Davis  about  the  N.  W.  voyage, 
53,154;  son  of  Henry  Hudson 
the  elder,  44,  45 ;  conveys 


204 


Hudson,  Thomas, (continued):  lands 
to  John  Hudson,  47,  48 ;  of 
Mortlake  for  a  time,  48,  52 ; 
his  nativity  calculated,  49 ; 
his  interest  in  the  Muscovy 
Company,  51  ;  relations  with 
Capt.  T.  Hudson,  119 

Hudson,  Thomas,  Captain  in  the 
Muscovy  Company's  service 
(1580)  19,  20  ;  of  Limehouse, 
19 ;  Burrough's  report  of  a 
voyage  of  Hudson  to  Russia, 
(1581),  54-57  ;  wintered  in 
Astrachan,  56  ;  object  of  his 
voyage  a  N.  E.  passage  and 
trade  in  Russia,  59  ;  not  the 
same  as  the  friend  of  Dr.  Dee, 
57 ;  relations  with  T.  Hudson 
above,  119;  influence  through 
the  Company  on  H.  Hudson, 
123,  124 

Hudson,  William,  in  the  service  of 
Henry  VIII  in  (1520),  38  n ; 
William  H.,  son  of  Edmund, 
party  in  a  suit,  46;  is  he  the 
same  as  W.  Hudson  author  ? 
46  n,  47  n 

Hudson,  William,  author  of  Trea- 
tise on  the  Court  of  Star  Cham- 
ber, 46,  47n 

Hudson's  Bay  Company,  9 

Hudson's  River,  10;  Hudson's  en- 
trance of  it  in  (1609),  163,  186 
-195 

Hudson's  strait,  visited  by  G. 
Waymouth,  155 ;  visited  be- 
fore Hudson,  164 ;  voyages 
to,  (1612),  195 

Hudson  tract,  quoted,  126 ;  re- 
printed extracts  from  the 
several  editions  of  HesselGer- 
ritz  of  1612  and  13,  16,  and 
in  appendix,  185-195 


I. 


Investigations,  results  of  former, 
9 

Ireland,  proposed  wintering  in, 
164 

Irving  W..  Knickerbocker's  his- 
tory, 172 


.1. 


Jackman,  Charles,  voyage  for  N. 
E.  passage,  (1580),  49,  50,  89, 
123 

James  river,  approached  by  Hud- 
son (1609),  161 

Japan,  See  China;  North  E. 
passage. 

Jeannin,  Pres.,  Ambassador  of 
Henry  IV  of  France  in  Hol- 
land, 139,  149 

Jenkinson,  A.,  letter  referring  to  C. 
Hudson  (1559),  61,  62 

Johnson  R.,  servant  of  the  Mus- 
covy Company  (1555),  60 

Jones,  Winter,,  extracts  from  his 
"  Hakluyt's  voyages,"  16,  190 

Judde,  Sir  A.,  member  of  the  Mus- 
covy Company,  29 

Judde,  R.,  servant  of  the  Muscovy 
Company,  (1555),  60 

Juet,  Robert,  sailed  with  Hudson 
the  2d,  3d  and  4th  voyages, 
136  ;  Captain's  clerk  on  3d 
voyage,  156;  extracts  from 
his  journal,  162,  164,  180,  182 


K. 

Kelly,    E.,    apothecary,    associate 

of  Dr.  Dee,  176 
Kent  County,  Hudson  families,  45  ; 

customs  of  descent,  48 
Killiugworth,  G.,    acting   for    the 

Muscovy  Company,  27  ;  speaks 

of  Chr.  Hudson  (1555),  60,  61 
Knight,  J.,  sailor,  Hudson's    first 

voyage,  13 


Lane,  H.,  in    the    employ    of  the 

Muscovy  Company  (1555),  60, 

61         • 

Lee,  Mr.,  from  Russia,  179 
Leighton    Bussard    estate,    66,  68, 

70,  77 
Le  Maire,   Isaac,    seeks  Hudson's 

services  for  France,  149 
Limehouse,   place   of  residence  of 

T.  Hudson,  19,  59,  119 


205 


Linschoten,  J.  H.  Van,  commercial 

agent  with  Barentson  (1594), 

143 
Lodge's     Illustrations,      extracts 

from,  35 
London  Trades  Companies'  names, 

32 
London  fever  (1555),  37 


Meteren,  E.  V.  (continued):  tbority 
for    Hudson's     directing     his 
course    to     the    setting    sun, 
160;  his  report  of  the  return 
on  the  3d  voyage,  164 
Mexican  poniard,  190,  194 
Micalovich,  Theod.,  gov.  of  Astra- 
chan,  55 


Lower's  derivation  of  the  name  of  Middleton,  Sir  H.,  East  India  voy- 
Hudson,  '20  age,  15 

Lumley's  Inlet,  186,  189,  190,  192; Milton's    Muscovia    refers   to   R. 

Chancelor,  26 
M.  |  Minion  ship,  91 

jMonson's,  Sir  W.,  "Naval  tracts," 

Machyn,    H.,    his    diary,    1550  to          127 

1563,  quoted,  30,  32,  33;   his  Morgan,  Miles,  died  under  Sir  H. 

account  of  the  elder  Hudson's!          Gilbert,  92 

funeral,    38;    sketch   of  him,  |  Morocco  Company,  129 

39;  lately   published,  40  ;  hisJMortlake,  Surrey,  residence  of  T. 

remai-ks  on  Sir  G.  Barnes,77  ; '         Hudson     and    Dr.    Dee,    de- 

on  Lady  Barnes,   78;   his  re- 1          scribed,  48,  119 

marks  on  R.  Cbamberlayne,  79JMoucheron,  B.De.,  devised  Barent- 

Maine,  visited  by   Hudson  (1609),  j          son's  voyage,  142,  143 

160  I  Murphy,  H.  C.,  on  Hudson's  Polar 

Manhattes,  184  sea,    9  :    his    "  H.    Hudson  in 

Mary,  Queen,  Charter  to  the  Mer- 


chant Adventurers  (1555),  27, 
28,  31  ;  Dr.  Dee  accused  of 
practising  against  her  life, 
175 


Holland,"  12  ;  earliest  infor- 
mation of  Hudson,  134;  opi- 
nion of  Van  Der  Donck,  135: 
discovery  of  Hudson's  con- 
tract, 150 


Maynard,   J.,   portrayed  in  a  pic-  Muscovy  Company,  Hudson's  ser- 


ture  of  Holbein,  74 

Mercer's  Company,  notices  of  its 
history  and  meaning,  106 

Merchant  Adventurers  Co.,  arose 
1358,  106 ;  its  monopoly  of 
foreign  commerce,  107—111  ; 
defence  of  its  priviliges  by  C. 
Hudson,  112-116:  number  of 
its  members  128, 129;  its  trade 
with  the  Dutch,  132 

Merchant  Adventurers,  a  name  of 
the  Muscovy  Co.,  21  ;  recog- 
nized in  1553,  24;  chartered 
in  1555,  27  ;  See  muscovy  Co. 

Merchant  nobles,  35 

Mermaid  described,  seen  by  Hud- 
son, 137 

Mrerick,  John,  of  the  Virginia  and 
Muscovy  Companies,  127 

Meteren,  E.  Van,  Consul  at  Lon- 
don, 126;  his  relations  with 
Hudson,  147 ;  his  account  of 
the  3d  voyage,  157;  the  au- 

27 


vice  in,  9;  first  mention  of 
Hudson  by  Purchas,  12,  13  ; 
C.  and  T.  Hudson  connected 
with  it,  19  ;  Hakluyt's  chain  of 
coincidences  regarding  the 
Hudsons,  and  the  Company, 
18;  known  also  as  the  Mer- 
chant Adventurers,  21,  28; 
Chancelor  and  Willoughby's 
expedition  for,  26;  first  char- 
ter for,  27,  28  ;  names  of  first 
directors,  29;  H.  Hudson 
senior,  one  of  them,  31,  43; 
many  of  the  nobility  in  it,  35  ; 
Dr.  Dee's  zeal  for  it,  49  ;  its 
Russian  agents  in  (1579),  54, 
55  ;  expedition  to  Persia,  54- 
56;  the  company's  chief  ob- 
ject, a  short  northern  passage 
to  India,  58,  124;  interior 
trade  with  Asia,  59  ;  letter  to 
fheir  Russian  agents  (1560), 
62-65  ;  four  consuls  of,  29, 


206 


Muscovy  Company  (continued): 
72,  81 ;  the  two  G.  Barnes 
members  of  it,  79  ;  factories 
in  Russia,  80.  83  ;  C.  Hudson's 
warlike  voyage,  83,  84 ;  its 
members  interested  in  the 
Virginia  Company,  82,  127; 
C.  Hudson's  and  C.  Carlile's 
efforts  to  interest  the  Company 
in  America,  97,  105  ;  Carlile 
on  the  uncertainty  of  their 
Russian  trade,  98,  99;  its 
Committee  on  his  arguments, 
101 ;  their  report  to  the  Com- 
pany (1583),  101,  102;  was 
the  source  of  success  to  C. 
Hudson,  117  ;  author's  conclu- 
sion that  Henry  Hudson  was 
trained  in  its  employ,  118, 
119,  120,  124;  traits  of  its 
employe's,  120,  121,  122 ;  its 
instructions  to  Captains,  122, 
123  ;  its  members  in  all  the 
principal  sea  ports,  129 ;  its 
connection  with  East  I.  Com- 
pany, 129,  130,  131 ;  Hudson's 
two  first  voyages  for  it,  133, 
135;  rivalry  of  the  Dutch 
with  it,  98-100,  141  ;  ships 
sent  by  it  to  discover  Hudson 
(1611),  194.  See  Merchant 
Adventurers. 


N. 


New  York,  discovered  after  Dela- 
ware, 7,  9,  163,  168 

Nobles  in  trade,  35 

North-East  passage  to  India,  Pet 
and  Jackman's  voyage,  50 ; 
was  object  of  Muscovy  Com- 
pany, 58 ;  Hudson's  darling 
object,  124  ;  Hudson's  2d  voy- 
age with  that  end,  136;  Dutch 
interested  in  same  object,  141, 
142;  Hudson's  undertaking  of 
it  for  them,  152;  and  failure, 
158,  159, 163  ;  search  for  it,  182 

North-West  passage  to  India,  Ca- 
bot's search  (1498),  21-24; 
^  Davis's  consultation,  53,  80  ; 
Hudson's  faith  in  it,  14,  124  ; 
charter  to  a  company  for  dis- 
covery of  (1612),  129;  Capt. 
Smith's  belief,  155;  Hudson's 
third  voyage  diverted  from 
trying  it,  159,  164 ;  Gerritz's 
account  of  Hudson's  voyages 
for  this  end,  186,  188,  189, 195 

Nova  Albion,  186 

NovaZembla,  Hudson's  discoveries 
in,  14,  137,  138  ;  Barentson's 
voyage  around  it,  144 ;  Hud- 
son to  sail  around  it  on  3d 
voyage,  151 ;  his  obstacles, 
157, 158;  Gerritz's  tract  on  that 
voyage,  189,  190,  193 


Nai,  Capt.  Cornells,  with  Barent- 

son,  143 

Names  of  Hudson,  spelling  of,  20, 
31,  65,  67;  names  in  Muscovy 
Company,  29  ;  names  of  Hud- 
son's crews,  13,  136 
Narrows  of  Waymouth,  156,  193 
Narve  in  Russia,  83,  85,  122 
Newfoundland,  arguments  for  Gil- 
bert's voyage  to,  99  ;  occupied 
by  Gilbert,    104 ;    Hudson  on 
the  banks  of,  160,  188 
New  France,  191,  193,  195 
New  Netherland,  185  ;  discovered 
by  Hudson,  14,  184.    See  also 
New  York. 
New  World.     See  America. 


0. 


O'Callaghan,  E.  B.,  account  of 
Hudson's  voyages,  167 

Oddo,  Danish  chief,  origin  of 
name  of  Hudson,  69 

Oxenden,  Sir  H.,  proprietor  of  J. 
Hudson's  estates,  46 


P. 


Panar  island,  165 

Peckham,  Sir  G.,  friend  of  Dee 
and  T.  Hudson,  51,  178  ;  pe- 
titioner with  Sir  H.  Gilbert  for 
a  discovery  grant,  92,  95,  104 

Penobscot  Bay  entered  (1609)  by 
Hudson,  160 


207 


Pet,  Capt.  A.,  for  Muscovy  Com- 
pany on  a  N.  E.  voyage,  49, 
50,  59 ;  Burrougli's  instruc- 
tions to  him  (1580),  89  ;  train- 
ed by  Muscovy  Company,  123  ; 
interested  in  Virginia  Compa- 
ny, 127 

Petchora  river,  141 

Plantius   or  Plancius,  Rev.  Peter, 


Rivers,  Sir  J.,  married  a  Barnes, 
78 

Roger,  same  derivation  as  Hud- 
son, 20 

Rogers,  D.,  visitor  at  Dr.  Dee's,  177 

Rundall's  voyages,  24 

Russian  Company,  see  Muscovy 
Company 

Russian  Emperor's  charter,  27  ;  C. 


the    Hakluyt    of  the   Nether-  Hudson's  letter   to,    85  - 

lands,    148  ;    interviews    with  gifts  of  Muscovy  Company  to 

Hudson,  148,   154  ;    sketch  of  j          the  Emperor,  98 
his  life,    152,    153;   furnishes  [Russian  trade  and  merchants,  121, 


122,  141,    144.     See  Muscovy 
Company. 


papers   to  Hudson,    153,  155 ; 
his    views    and   Way  mouth's, 
155,  156;    mentioned  by  Ger- 
ritz,  186,  190,  192. 
Playse    or    Pleyce,    John,    sailor, 

Hudson's  first  voyage,  13,  171  j  Sailors'  names    on   Hudson's  voy- 
ages, 13,  136 

Sainsbury's,    (W.    N.)    date    of    a 
Report  of  Muscovy  Co.,  cor- 


Polar sea,  thought  to  be  open  by 

Hudson,  9,  189,  190 
Prickett,  A.,  Hudson  mentioned  in 

his  "Discourse,"  119,  126. 


Prise.  C.,  agent  of  Muscovy  Com- 

pany in  Russia,  60 
Purchas,    Rev.    Samuel,    His    Pil- 


gnmes 


contains    account     of 


Hudson's  four  voyages,  7  ; 
formerly  chief  source  of  infor- 
mation on  Hudson,  12  ;  ab- 


rected,  101,  103 
Saint  Dunstan's  Church,  43 
Salterne,    W.,   merchant,    London 

(1583),  94 
Sandy  Hook,   entered  by  Hudson, 

7,  163,  184 
Segewicke,    John,    agent    of    the 

Muscovy  Company,  60 


sence  of   notices  from  him  of  Servants,  meaning  of,  54 


Hudson's  early  history,  14, 
15 ;  occasion  of  his  many  omis- 
sions, 15-17;  his  knowledge 
of  Hudson  derived  from  Hak- 
luyt, 15,  128 ;  sketch  of  Pur- 
chas's  life,  174 


li. 


Radforth,  Mr.  (1583),  179 
Ralegh,  Sir  Walter,  spelling  of  the 

name,  30,  31  ;  visitor  with  T. 

Hudson  at  Dr.  Dee's,  51,  179; 

Hakluyt   an    assignee   of    his 

patent,  174 
Ray  nor,    R.,   sailor,   who  saw  the 

mermaid,  138 
Read,  W.,  of  the  Dixwell  family, 

44,  46 

Reynolds,  visitor  at  Dr.  Dee's,  177 
Ridley,  Bishop,  eulogy  on    Sir  G. 

Barnes,  75 


Shakespeare,  W.,  our  ignorance  of 
his  early  life,  8 

Sidney,  Sir  P.,  wife,  a  descendant 
of  Sir  G.  Barnes,  96  ;  friend 
of  Hakluyt,  128 

Sims,  R.,  of  the  Hudsons  of  Leigh- 
ton  Bussard,  68,  70 

Skinners'  or  Tanners'  Company, 
32 

Skrutton,  J.,  see  Strutton,  J. 

Smith,  Capt.  John,  his  acquaint- 
ance with  Hudson  and  others, 
126  :  sends  Hudson  maps  and 
letters,  155  ;  influenced  Hud- 
son's route,  158;  not  visited 
by  Hudson  in  1609,  161 

Smith,  Sir  Thomas,  Gov.  of  Mus- 
covy Company,  125 ;  Presi- 
dent of  the  Virginia  Company, 
127,  131;  Governor  of  East 
India  Company,  129,  131  ;  re- 
ceives (1609)  a  gift  from  the 
King,  166 


208 


Smyth,  Sir  Hugh,  visits  Dr.  Dee, 
178 

Snarke,  Haunce,  freebooter  in  the 
Arctic  ocean,  86 

Society  for  the  discovery  of  un- 
known lands,  27 

Somers,  Sir  G.,  friend  of  Capt. 
Smith,  126 

Somers  Island  Company,  131 

Spanish  trade.  21-23 

Spitzbergen,  date  of  Hudson's 
first  voyage  there,  12,  13 ; 
incidents  of  it,  133 ;  observa- 
tions at  Spitzbergen,  134; 
mention  in  Gerritz's  tracts, 
189,  191 

Stafford,  Sir  E.,  his  patent  for 
cloth  exportation,  108;  R., 
Hakluyt  his  chaplain,  174 

Staper,  R.,  merchant  and  alderman, 
London  1608,  90,  127 

Steevens,  G.,  of  our  ignorance  of 
Shakespeare,  8 

Stere,  W.,  translates  Boty's  treat- 
ise, 153 

Steventon,   T.,    merchant,   (1583), 

Stoade,  trade  at,  113,  114 

Stow's      London    on     H.     Hudson 

senior's    monument,    41 ;    on 

Sir  G.  Barnes,  72 
Stromo  Is.,  160 
Strutton,   J.,   sailor  with  Hudson, 

13,    136 
Strype,  J.,    his    use    of  Machyn's 

Diary,  39. 


T. 


Talboys,  M.,  agent  for  Muscovy 
Co.,  54;  at  Astrachan  (1581), 
56 

Tetgales,  Brant,  Capt.  with  Bar- 
entson,  (1594),  143 

Thomas  Allen,  ship.  57 

Trades  (The)  Increase,  a  ship, 
(1609),  166 

Trades  (The)  Increase,  a  tract, 
(1615),  122,  130 

Tripoli  Company,  113 

Turkey  Company,  129 

Turnbull,  W.,  agent  for  the  Mus- 
covy Company  (1581),  54; 
at  Astrachan,  56 


U. 


Usselinx,  Mr.,  joins  with  Plantius 
for  a  West  India  Company, 
152 


V. 


Van  Der  Donck,  A.,  value  of 
his  testimony,  134,  135;  his 
words  on  Hudson's  antece- 
dents, 135;  his  words  on  the 
discovery  of  Delaware  bay, 
162 

Van  Meteren.  See  Meteren,  E. 
Van 

Vaygats,  138,  141 

Virginia  colony,  search  for  a  N. 
W.  passage  near  the,  160,  189, 
191 

Virginia  Company,  its  members 
also  in  Muscovy  Company,  82  ; 
Hudson  family  in  it,  82  ;  some 
names  of  members  of  both 
companies,  127,  128;  Sir  T. 
Smith  president  of  both,  131 


W. 

Wales,  Prince  of.  See  Henry, 
Prince 

Walkaden,  R.,  associate  in  trade 
for  Brazil,  91 

Wallop,  H.,  of  Leighton  Bussard, 
67 

Walsingham,  Sir  Francis,  friend 
of  Dr.  Dee,  51,  177  ;  Queen 
Elizabeth  at  his  house,  52; 
marries  daughter  of  Sir  G. 
Barnes,  78  ;  brother-in-law  of 
Sir  G.  Barnes,  2d,  80 ;  letter 
to  Aldworth  on  Gilbert's  voy- 
age, 93,  94;  Aldworth's  re- 
ply, 94,  95  ;  C.  Carlile  his 
step-son,  95 ;  sketch  of  Sir  F. 
W.'s  family  and  history,  96  ; 
allied  with  C.  Hudson,  97  ; 
intimate  with  Hakluyt,  128; 
Hakluyt's  letters  to  Walsing- 
ham, 173  ;  his  death,  179 

Walton,  Izaak,  on  the  Thatched 
House  at  Hoddesdon  69 


209 


Warwick  County,  45 

Watson,  E.,  Hitchin  estate  con- 
veyed to  him  and  H.  Hudson 
the  elder,  33 

Waymouth,  Capt.  George,  his  log- 
books collated  with  Smith's 
accounts,  155,  192  ;  "  Nar- 
rows" mentioned  by  him, 
156,  193 ;  Gerritz  calls  him 
Winwood,  189  ;  Hudson  fol- 
lows his  track,  190 

Webster,  R.,  succeeded  as  Preben- 
dary of  Westminster  by  Hak- 
luyt,  174 

West  India  Company,  152 

Weymouth,  G.  See  Waymouth, 
G. 

White,  John,  of  the  Muscovy  Com- 
pany and  relative  of  H.  Hud- 
son senior,  40 

White,  Sir  Thomas,  member  of 
Muscovy  Company  and  rela- 
tive of  H.  Hudson  senior  29, 
40. 


Whithall,  John,  efforts  for  Brazil 
trade,  90;  his  associates,  91 

Willoughby.  Sir  H.,  first  comman- 
der for  the  Muscovy  Company 
(1553),  24;  voyage  to  Lap- 
land, 25,  26 

Winfield,  E.  M  ,  London,  friend  of 
Capt.,  Smith,  126 

Winwood,  Capt.,  same  as  Way- 
mouth  G.,  189 

Wood,  A.  a,  extract  on  Purchas, 
175 

Woodcocke,  J.,  Muscovy  Com- 
pany's expedition  (1568)  un- 
der, 59 

Woollen  manufactures,  106,  107; 
monopoly  of  trade  in,  108-116. 
See  Merchant  Adventurers. 


Young,    J.,    sailor   with    Hudson, 
(1607),  18. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 
LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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